Journey of a Pokemon Master: Orange Islands Arc
by Heracross0122
Summary: After his run at the Indigo League Ash sets off on his second journey with best buddy Pikachu; girlfriend Serena and brother Drake as he has a go at conquering the Orange League. (Sequel to, Journey of a Pokemon Master: Kanto Arc. Amourshipping. Smarter stronger Ash. Aura. None cannon Pokemon. Possible other ships). Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON!
1. A New Challenge

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the first part of the Orange League arc. Serena discovers her next goal in life, although she can't compete in the Orange Island version for… Reasons, you'll see later on. As for the Pokemon teams: both Ash and Serena will have two new catches and an evolution while both Misty and Drake catch one new Pokemon. This will probably be the smallest arc in the whole series, but just as important._**

 ** _As for what I want to achieve with this arc is perfecting my writing (I might regret writing that). In short, I want to make my chapters more fleshed out and give more time to the side characters. I kind of feel bad about brushing Misty and Brock of in Kanto with them not doing much. The average word count for Kanto was 8,000 words and while that is good, that is mostly thanks to the league chapters. I want to try and make my average word count to be 10,000 words per chapter. Obviously, it may be more or less per chapter but I am talking about on average. Since this is a shorter arc, I estimate around 25 chapters, it should be done by Christmas (hopefully) which seems ages away but it really isn't. Question time:_**

 ** _Jasmine:_**

 ** _Q) Will Ash get a Lapras in the next story? A) Yes, although I won't spoil if he lets it go at the end or not._**

 ** _Q) Also, will Drake get brand any pokemon? A) Read the Author's note above._**

 ** _Q) Also, will Ash get any new visions in an formed? If so what will they be? A) Maybe, maybe not. Wait and see._**

 ** _Q) Also, should Ash see more about this pokemon and soon. A) Maybe, maybe not. Wait and see._**

 ** _Remember to vote in the new poll, which is the same as the last poll just focused around Serena's Pokemon instead of Ash's. I hope you enjoy this and with that, let's begin…_**

* * *

 _Chapter 1: A New Challenge_

It is late at night in the town of Pallet. While this is a small town, it is known as the place where shades of your journey await. This is because it is the home of the famous Professor Oak, and his research lab. Many trainers from the Kanto region start their journey here, as the elderly Professor is responsible for giving many trainers their first Pokemon at the start of their journey. To many, he is the authority on Pokemon. If you have a question to ask about Pokemon, he likely has the answer. Of course, he is still learning new things every day.

He is currently sat in his wheel chair in front of his computer in his lab. Today has been a busy day, as he hosted a party for two brothers from Pallet who both did Pallet proud by making it to the top four in this year's Indigo League. He gave a yawn as he loaded up his emails, while he really should be getting to bed, he knows he likely has a list of emails and it is best to deal with them now than in the morning since he will have to feed the Pokemon who live here.

"Let's see what we've got today..." The professor mumbled to himself with a yawn. Scanning through the emails, most of them are junk. Some sort of sale on the latest scientific equipment. No thank you, the tools in his lab maybe old but work just fine. Just because it says new doesn't mean that it is improved, the only improvement is the price tag.

The Professor tossed the first five emails straight into the trash, which were all some sort of sales pitches. The next caused the elderly Professor to roll his eyes, he just had to see the name to know this own belongs in the bin as well. It was from some sort of Pokemon watcher called Tracey Sketchit, he is always sending the lab emails with different drawings of Pokemon. He is a talented artist but the Professor doesn't know what he hopes to achieve. He is too old for a fan club and too busy to spare a meeting with the young man. He isn't stupid enough to partake in a meeting with a stranger anyway, and he doesn't need any help at the lab as he copes just fine with his granddaughter, Daisy Oak, who has been working at the lab and has shown interest in taking over the lab someday.

As his mind drifted from the actual emails, the Professor started to think about the latest group of trainers who he gave starters too. It was just over a year and half ago, when he set the group of on their journey. The first two are twin brothers, Ash and Drake Ketchum, sons of Red and Delia Ketchum. It was these two who the party was for. While they have been on rocky ground before their journey, at some point they made up and are acting how brothers should. While they are brothers, they could be more different, like two sides of the same coin. While Ash has a neutral gift for bonding with any Pokemon, even to the point where he has an openly affectionate Gyarados, Drake is more calculated and very knowledgeable on most subjects regarding Pokemon. Ash also has the ability to understand what Pokemon are saying but that has never been a major issue between the brothers.

Next up is his grandson, Gary Oak. While definitely skilled at battling and has a good collection built over his journey, he suffered a humiliating loss to Drake meaning he made it to the top 32. While a commendable feet, the battle was a little one side, he couldn't take down one of Drake's Pokemon and Drake seemed to know every one of Gary's moves before he knew. To make matters worse, Gary seemed to develop feelings for a girl who has shown she is interested in Drake. As a result of this loss, his grandson set out on another journey to get stronger. While he wishes to know where Gary is, he still keeps in contact but only to rotate his Pokemon around. Today he sent back his Golem because he caught an Eevee but that conversation barely lasted two minutes. All the Professor can do is hope that his grandson is safe and finds what he needs to, too move on.

This girl is the next one up, Leaf Green. While not a battler like the previous boys, she set off on her journey to complete the Kanto dex. Doing a great job, she has seen almost all of the Pokemon native to Kanto, including the illusive Mew. Strangely enough, all the other trainers also have data on this rare Pokemon, although none of them have told the Professor how, when he asked. While disappointed, he understands that somethings must be kept secret. The only Pokemon she is missing data on are two legendary bird of Kanto: Articuno and Moltres. No-doubt she will find them in time, as she is very adventurous and when she sets her mind to something, she does it. Plus, Ash and the final trainer from this group both have data on these Pokemon so she will likely get the information out of them.

Speaking off, the final member of this group is Serena Yvonne. She moved to Pallet when she was a young girl, and is very skilled at handling Rhyhorn thanks to her mother's training, as she is a world champion at Rhyhorn racing. Although, Serena didn't wish to follow in her mother's footsteps. In all honestly, she worried the Professor the most as she didn't know what she wanted to do. The Professor thought that she only started her journey because her friends were, but to the contrary she discovered the newly created Battle Chateau challenge and achieved the rank of Grand Duchess.

As his trip down memory lane the Professor realised all that was left was one email from a colleague of his, Professor Philena Ivy, who is based in the Orange Archipelago, specialising in regional differences and is very knowledgeable in her field. Although she does have her bad habits, like staying up all night researching a topic she recently discovered which meant she wouldn't get enough sleep at night. Her lifestyle other than this wasn't much better, as it looked like a place where Muk's would be right at home, scratch that, after living with Ash's Muk he can confirm it is a much cleaner being. All of these factors lead Professor Oak to worry about her health.

Well, might as well see what this is about. The Professor opened the letter and began to read the quite long email. As he got further down, his intrigue grows with each passing word. It has something to do with a mysterious ball that can't be transported. Feeling a new lice on life with this discover the Professor quickly hit the reply button. Sleep can wait...

* * *

It was a bright sunny morning over the town of Pallet. Pidgey were chipping, the sun was shining and a raven-hair boy from the town, was still snoozing. After his late-night call to his dad, Ash hasn't even tried to get out of bed.

"Urg… Five more minutes." Ash moaned as Pikachu tried to poke his trainer awake. The little electric has been at this for the last ten minutes, with no success. Pikachu did consider a Thunderbolt would do the trick, but last time he did that, Ash took his Ketchup away for two weeks. It's not nice to remember the dark times.

While thinking off a suitable way to wake his trainer up, Pikachu heard the letter box go. He ran downstairs and found Delia going through the mail.

"Pika pi?" Pikachu asked, as he looked at the mother of his trainer. Delia saw Pikachu out of the corner of her eye and smiled. Moving past the next letter, she sees the final one was for Ash.

"Good morning to you too, Pikachu." Delia smiled as she bent down, and scratched the electric mouse behind his ear. Pikachu cooed under her touch. "Could you take this to Ash, please?". Pikachu nodded at the request and took the letter off Delia. He placed it in his mouth, and bolted back upstairs.

"Time to get up, Ash!" Pikachu shouted as he stood on his trainer's bed. Ash's eye blinked open ready to tell Pikachu to leave him to sleep, until he saw his starter with the letter in his hands.

"Urg Pikachu, what is that?" Ash asked as he blinked himself awake.

"A tin opener." Pikachu replied sarcastically. "What do you think?". Ash grunted as he sat up and grabbed the letter off Pikachu. His eye quickly glanced at Togepi, who was still asleep on his bedside table. After letting out a yawn, Ash opened the letter, and proceeded to read it.

 _Dear Ash Ketchum_

 _I am writing to you today, as you have been selected as one of six trainers to compete in the upcoming Orange League. This is due to your performance, show casing the bond between Pokemon and trainer, at the last Indigo League. Namely your Gyarados' affectionate nature was a deciding factor, along with the bond you've shown with your other Pokemon. We hope you consider participating, and as confirmation, you will be needed at the Pummelo Stadium, in the Orange Archipelago, in two weeks, as all competing trainers will be induced before the collection of the gym badges begins. Inside you'll find ticket on a cruise, schedule to leave Vermillion Port in a two days' time, and allows up to five guests to travel with you._

 _Yours Sincerely, President Charles Goodshow & Drake Yūji_

 _The Pokemon League Association (P.L.A) & Orange League Champion_

"Wow Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed as he quickly re-read the letter.

Unfortunately, that little outburst, woke Togepi up, who burst into tears. The egg Pokemon is still quiet young, only half a year old. Togepi was having a nice dream, where he was having a picnic on a grassy field with his 'daddy', and Serena and Uncle Pikachu. Of course, daddy was sneaking him some yummy treats when Serena wasn't looking. While Togepi hasn't imprinted on Serena, like he has done on Ash, she was the first person he opened up to, since she is his daddy's partner.

"Opps." Ash gasped, as his youngest Pokemon started crying. Ash quickly picked Togepi up, and started to rock him until the tears stopped. "Sorry about that Togepi, I just got some good news.".

"Dada Dada." Togepi chirped. "Priii".

"So, are you ready for some breakfast Togepi?" Ash asked.

"Toge-Pi." Togepi nodded cheerfully.

The Orange League is known as one of the hardest leagues to compete in, it takes place once a year, and only selected trainers who have competed in other leagues. Not to mention, you only have one chance to compete. Sure, a lot of people consider it smaller than a regular league, considering it is only four badges instead of the typical eight, but people say the strength of the gym leaders can match those of Elite Four members.

"Sooo…" Pikachu replied, emphasising the single word. "What does it say?".

"We have been selected to compete in the next Orange League." Ash told his starter. Then the penny dropped, just hearing it out loud seemed to make what was on the letter become real, he will have the chance to compete. "YAWHO!".

A small flock of Pidgeys flew away as they were disturbed by that loud shrike. Hearing the funny noise leave his daddies mouth made the Spike Ball Pokemon burst out laughing. Faster than an extreme speed, Ash shot downstairs, and burst into the kitchen. He saw Brock, Delia and Drake already dressed. Drake was preparing for breakfast, which Delia was dishing up, with Brock's help.

"What is it, dear?" Delia asked, not seeming surprised by her son's outburst.

"Mum, I've been offered the chance to compete in the upcoming Orange League." Ash explained, clearly excited.

"Great Ash, that league is designed to truly show the bond between people and Pokemon." Brock comment. "It will be a great experience for you, I'm sure.".

Delia smiled, while she isn't as up-to-date with the Pokemon Leagues as her sons, or her husband, she can remember hearing that it was a very hard league to enter. Not even Red has competed in it.

"That's wonderful, dear." Delia replied. "Now Ash, please get dressed. Your breakfast will be getting cold.". Ash blushed as he realised in all his excitement, that he came down stairs in only his nightwear.

As Ash walked back upstairs with an unbelievably large smile on his face, Drake's mind started to wonder. Yes, he is happy for Ash and he definitely deserves it, but what will he do now? He knows that he needs to learn how to bond with Pokemon, but how does he learn that? He has read nearly every book to do with training; breeding; and practically the entirety of the Pokedex, but he didn't find anything of the sort. Yet, Ash seems to do it naturally… Ash, that's it, if anyone can teach him the secret to bonding with Pokemon, its him… But would Ash be willing to do so? He seemed open to the idea when their father suggested but what if he's changed his mind. After how Drake treated for all those years, he couldn't blame his brother.

"What ya thinking about Drake?" Delia asked, as she place the cooked breakfast in front of her son.

"Just the next step on my journey." Drake replied honestly.

Delia smiled as her son began digging into his breakfast. She knows he has been bothered about learning to properly bond with his Pokemon since facing Paul in the Indigo League, and she can practically read his mind, with the thought of what his next journey step will be. It nice that after years of disowning his brother, Drake has finally learned the truth and moved on.

Brock and Delia soon joined Drake in eating their breakfast. Once Ash was dressed he quickly joined them as well, and despite being the last one to join, he finished his first. Pikachu and Cubone were also eating with the family, and despite being on good terms, Cubone couldn't help but be a little disgusted by the electric types obsession with ketchup. That, just doesn't sit well with the ground type. Ash also tried feeding Togepi a bowl of mashed banana but most of it ended up on the fairy type rather than in him.

* * *

After breakfast, Ash ran off, shortly followed by Brock and Pikachu. He was running to tell Serena and Misty the news. He met them at the park near the centre of town. When she saw Ash arrive, Serena smiled and greeted him with hug.

"Hey Ash, good to see ya." Misty greeted as Serena let go. "And you too, Togepi.". Togepi chirped hello from Ash's shoulder, much like Uncle Pikachu, this seems to be Togepi's preferred mode of travel. Although he isn't as adept at keeping his balance without help from Uncle Pikachu, who is on Ash's other shoulder and is using his tail to steady the baby Pokemon.

"Yeah Ash, and what's gotten you so excited." Serena added, while it may look like his usual self to anyone else Serena can easily see Ash is more excited than usual, she just knows him that well. Ash blushed out of embarrassment.

"Toge Toge." Togepi laughed at his daddy. Seeing his daddy go red in the face is funny to the little baby Pokemon.

"Hehehe, yeah. I guess I was a little excited." Ash sheepishly replied. "But guess what!".

"What Ash?" Serena asked, intrigued about her boyfriend's excitement.

"I've been invited to participate in the next Orange League!" Ash exclaimed, handing over the slightly scrunched up letter to his girlfriend. "It arrived this morning.".

Serena quickly scanned the letter before handing it too Misty, with a radiant smile on her face. Misty also started reading.

"Wow Ash, this is great." Serena exclaimed, happy for him. "I know you will do great Ash, no-body can bond with Pokemon like you.".

Serena is genuinely happy for her boyfriend. He has always had a knack for befriending Pokemon, sure, some might say that it is only because of his aura, but that just simply isn't true. When speaking about other aura users, Red mentioned not all of them were able to bond with Pokemon properly, so it is down to Ash.

"Hehehe, thanks Serena." Ash sheepishly replied, scratching the back of his head.

But that also brings up another problem for Serena, she still hasn't found out what she wants to do now that her Chateau challenge is over. Of course, she decided to focus on finding a new dream once the Indigo League was over. But everything past that point seems to just be a whirlwind. As soon as the tournament was over, then they were brought home, then they had the big celebration, and now Ash has a new journey offered the very next morning... Well, maybe she will find a dream to pursue in the Orange Archipelago, after all, she spent years in Pallet unable to find a dream, then on the first day of her journey she discovered the Chateau.

"Hey Ash, it says you can take five guests." Misty pointed out, as she finished reading the letter.

"Right…" Ash replied. "Well, you two and Brock make up three of the spots, so now it's just the other two.". Ash seemed deep in thought about who he should give the extra tickets too. At this point, Brock seemed to arrive, slightly out of breath.

"Don't forget, we also need to be in Vermillion in two days if you want to catch the boat." Misty added. That just added the pressure, he still needs to pack and they are in a hurry.

"Don't worry Ash, why don't we go to the lab now." Brock suggested. "I'm sure Leaf is already there, so you can tell her and your Pokemon. I know your bag is still packed from the trek to the Indigo League, so that won't take much packing. I'm pretty sure Drake said he was going there as well.".

"Your right Brock." Ash replied, brightening up. "Let's go to the lab.". Ash ran off, closely followed by his travelling companions. After receiving that letter, he is just full of energy.

* * *

"Heeeelllloooo!" Ash called out as he raced through the doors of the lab. He didn't expect to find the Professor close to said door and he had swiftly duck and dodge out of the Professor's way. The quick loss of momentum caused Ash to fall on his behind, while the old Professor was somehow able to remain standing.

"Ash, my boy. What has gotten into you?" The Professor asked.

"Hehehe, sorry Professor." Ash apologies with a nervous chuckle. "I'm just excited to see my Pokemon becau... Arg, hi Muk. Good to see you two.". The raven-haired boy was cut off by his Poison type who was giving his typical affectionate body slam hug. Togepi was safe on the floor thanks to Uncle Pikachu rescuing him while Ash stumbled around. The young fairy type was laughing and wanted to hug the big squish purple guy too. Pikachu had to stop the Spike Ball as he remembered a certain Bellsprout from the Indigo League which Muk gave a hug too, and he didn't want Togepi to go the same way.

"Grandpa, what's going on?" Daisy asked as she and Leaf walked out from some part of the lab. As soon as she saw Muk giving his trainer the typical greeting hug, she understood exactly what was happening. "Oh... Morning everyone.".

"Morning my dearest Daisy." Brock jumped forward onto one knee, holding Daisy's hand who just looked uncomfortable. "Of course, the flower still has no match for your actual beauty and if you let me... Ark!". Brock's proposal was cut short because his Rhyhorn let himself out and used horn attack into the breeder's gut. Tossing Brock onto his back, Rhyhorn carried the crippled man away and out to the back ranch.

"Eh hem." Professor Oak coughed, not happy about the breeder hitting on his granddaughter. "So, Ash, care to explain why you almost ran me over?".

"Hehehe, sorry Professor." Ash chuckled nervously. "I just wanted to see my Pokemon, ya see I got this letter and wanted to tell them about straight away.". Ash handed the slightly scrunched up letter to the elderly Professor. The elderly Professor read the letter and let out a slight chuckle, what a coincidence.

"Well my boy, it is certainly an honour to be accepted to compete in the Orange League. And after your first regional league no less." Professor Oak congratulated. "I presume this means that your next journey will take you to the Orange Archipelago?".

"Right Professor." Ash smiled in response.

"That's awesome Ash, so we can travel there together." Leaf jumped in excited for her best friend.

"You mean you're going to travel there as well?" Ash asked.

"Correct Ash." The Professor answered instead. "You see, last night I received an email from a fellow Professor who is based in that region. Her name is Professor Ivy, and she recently came across a unique kind of Pokeball. I asked Leaf to go and get.".

"Of course, I said yes." Leaf interjected. "The Orange Islands are known for having the same native Pokemon to Kanto, although a few of them are different and I can't wait to check them out. I can remember hearing stories about an island where all the Pokemon are pink.".

"Yes, I am sure this will be a great experience for you Leaf." The Professor chuckled at the hyper active girl. "With your new Pokedex, I'm sure you'll be able to fill it up with a lot of information on regional differences, which just so happens to Professor Ivy's field.".

"Really? Wow, now I want to meet her even more!" Leaf exclaimed.

"New Pokedex?" Serena questioned.

"Correct, I have one's for you two as well." The Professor replied as he handed the two devices to Ash and Serena. "Not only do these Pokedexes have up-to-data on every species of Pokemon, but they also update automatically and when you catch a new Pokemon, instead of that one being sent to the lab this will allow you to choose which one comes back out of all on hand Pokemon. I made sure to add this feature since some of your new catches aren't happy about being sent straight here.". Ash sweat dropped as he could imagine his Sandslash being on that list.

"Thank you, Professor." Serena thanked as she looked at her new Pokedex.

"Yeah Professor, thanks a lot." Ash replied.

"Don't worry about the previous data you've collected as these new ones have the same information stored on them." The Professor replied. "It will also allow you to look up the data of your Pokemon at the lab.".

"So, I guess you will want to pick your Pokemon for the journey." Daisy pipped up.

"Right... Since we need to fly to Vermillion if we want to reach the boat on time, I'll be taking Charizard; Pidgeot and Aerodactyl." Ash replied. "Of course, I'm taking Pikachu. For the final two slots, I think I'll take Gyarados and Wartortle.".

"You sure that's a good idea Ash?" Misty pipped up in a teasing tone. "You won't have much chance if you have to face an electric type.".

"Of course, I'm sure." Ash replied. "The boat takes us straight to Pummelo Island. We're not allowed to battle on the boat, and I bet both Gyarados and Wartortle would love to swim in the sea on the way there.".

"Good idea, Ash. You can always call me if you need to exchange your teams at any time." The Professor replied.

"I'll go and get the five Pokeballs for you." Daisy added. "What about you Serena?".

"Hmm... Could I take: Delphox; Eevee; Seadra; Seel; Kabuto and Kangashkan please." Serena requested after a moment of thought.

"Certainly." Daisy smiled before walking off to collect the Pokeballs. Leaf already had her Pokemon picked out and Pokeballs on her belt. "If you go outside and tell your Pokemon the good news then I will bring them out to you.".

"Thanks Daisy." Ash and Serena replied in unison.

"What are you waiting for?" Leaf asked impatiently. "I get to fly on an Aerodactyl.". Before anyone could respond, she had grabbed Ash's and Serena's, dragging them towards the back ranch.

"She certainly is a lively spirit." The professor chuckled.

"Maybe, but I don't want to see her reaction when she finds out Aerodactyl only allows Ash and Pikachu to fly on his back." Misty replied being the only one left with the Professor.

"What! No Way!" Leaf's voice echoed throughout the whole of Pallet.

"Guess I should go and try to cheer her up." Misty replied before giving a small bow and heading towards the back ranch. The Professor smiled before letting out a big yawn, after the late night discussing this Pokeball with Professor Ivy, it seems like the Pokemon Professor will need a long nap.

* * *

"Okay everyone, gather round." Ash told the Pokemon. Currently, his and Serena's are circled around the trainers by the lake so Gyarados and Seadra can also listen in. With it clear that everyone is listening, Ash decided to break the news. "Guys, we have been offered the chance to compete in the Orange League.".

At this revaluation, Ash's Pokemon cheered. They can't wait to get back into the action and prove themselves after the Indigo League. While they may not know much about this league in particular, they do know it will give them a chance to prove themselves. Serena's Pokemon are just as happy for them but decided not to cheer as it isn't really their celebration.

"Now, we need to make it too Vermillion City to catch our boat to the Orange Islands." Ash explained. "Which means, Pidgeot; Charizard and Aerodactyl, we are going to need your help to fly us over there.".

The three Pokemon nodded. They don't mind flying the group around as it allows them to stretch their wings. The only acceptation is Aerodactyl who only allows Ash; Pikachu and Togepi to fly with him.

"If Ash is flying on Aerodactyl, guess we'll need to pair up." Leaf stated. "Serena, why don't we fly together.".

"Sounds good Leaf, we can ride Pidgeot since she is gentler then the two boys." Serena replied. Pidgeot that and smiled proudly, unlike the two males who fly, she doesn't need to prove her speed in a race and focuses more on giving her riders a smooth and enjoyable flight.

"Then I guess it's you and me on Charizard." Brock told Misty.

"Yippee." Misty replied sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. While she doesn't mind flying with Brock, and Charizard is a very nice Pokemon but whenever it goes flying with Aerodactyl it tends to try and race the Fossil Pokemon. The only issue is, Aerodactyl is naturally faster and likes to lead the pack seeing as he is the oldest, meaning it makes Charizard work even hard and makes his flight that less comfortable.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Leaf ask from Pidgeot's back. She is already to go, she has never used her own Pokemon to fly and while it would be nice to give it a try, they aren't as experience or as physically stong as Ash's so maybe flying to Vermillion will be a little much for them.

"Slow down Leaf, I still need to pack." Ash told the hyper active girl. "We only came here to tell our Pokemon and collect the ones were taking. We will be setting off tomorrow seeing as the boat leaves tomorrow night.".

"Aww man." Leaf groaned as she anime fell of Pidgeot's back. The female bird caught the brunette before she hit the ground and stood her gently, since evolving she has took on a sort of motherly role. Of course, she is still strong and a battle lover but she is no longer the lone ranger she once was.

Running up to the group came Daisy who was holding the Pokeballs requested by Ash and Serena. Brock's eyes turned to hearts once more although a quick look at Rhyhorn who is more than prepare to use Horn Attack was enough to stop the Pokemon breeder in his tracks.

"Here you go guys." Daisy handed them the Pokeballs. The two trainers happily accepted the items and thanked her before Serena asked a question.

"Daisy, sorry if its none of my business but why did you ask Leaf to go on this earn?" Serena asked. "Don't you normally do stuff like this for the Professor?".

"Normally yes, but I am running an earn in Alola as my grandpa's cousin hurt his back." Daisy explained. "I don't know how long I'll be gone so Leaf will probably be quicker, even with exploring the region.".

Daisy bid goodbye to the group and the two eleven-year olds returned their selected Pokemon. Wanting to leave early tomorrow, they are collecting there Pokemon now so they won't have to in the morning. While most of Ash's Pokemon accepted the reasoning behind his decision, Gyarados even thanked him with his typical affectionate lick. Dragonair was not happy about being push aside for the squirt with sunglasses and the ugly sea serpent, she is a princess and as such should be chosen first. While it wasn't as bad for the three flyers because they are needed to fly them there, she isn't happy about being pushed aside.

With Dragonair calmed down the group left, with Misty going back to Serena's house with the honey-blonde girl so they can pack, and Brock going with Ash for the same reasoning.

* * *

"Hey Brock, you all packed?" Ash asked as they stood in the kitchen. As soon as they returned to the Ketchum house the two boys started packing. Ash got out his new travelling clothes Serena helped him pick at the league to change into tomorrow. Once he was sure he had everything, he made his way to the kitchen where Brock was waiting while Delia and Mimey were cooking.

"Right, all ready to go." Brock smiled, showing his backpack to the raven-hair boy. Before he had his journey, he wouldn't of thought of a tenth of the stuff that he would need. Lucky his mum packed his bag for or he would've been in big trouble... Even more then he already was.

"Hold on, is Drake not here?" Ash asked, noticing his lack of a brother.

"He left just after you, this morning." Delia replied. "Although he seemed to have a lot on his mind, would you go and find him honey.".

"Um sure, you coming Brock?" Ash asked.

"Actually Brock, could you be a dear and set the table?" Delia requested.

"Of course." Brock replied happy to help after Delia let him stay in her home. "Sorry Ash, but with Pikachu I'm sure you'll find him in no time.".

"Right, I be back as soon as." Ash replied. "Come on Pikachu.". Running out of the house, he decided to leave Togepi as he is faster when not having to carry the young fairy type. Pikachu was running by Ash's side, trying to pick up on either Drake's or Cubone's scent.

What no-body knew was Delia wanted Ash to go by himself. In truth, she knows what her oldest son is concerned about and by making Ash go with only Pikachu, it will give Drake the chance to speak his mind.

* * *

"Do you have any better ideas?" Drake asked Cubone. The Pokemon and trainer are at the park sat on the swings. They have been her most of the day, ever since leaving the house. Drake already knows what he wants to do for his next journey, he wants to travel with Ash to the Orange Islands.

"Cu Bone Bone, Cubone!" Cubone shouted back. His trainer has been going back and forth all day. If he wants to travel with Ash, then just ask him and not come up with some elaborate mind game to make it seem like he needs Drake to travel with him.

"Just... Ask him?" Drake translated. While he might not be able to understand Pokemon like Ash, he is close enough to Cubone to always know what he is say, or the general gist of it. Wait, just ask Ash. What if he is still sour about how Drake used to treat him. "I can't do that, Cubone.".

Cubone just had enough of his trainers back and forth attitude. Every other time on their journey, whether a gym battle, league battle or just a road block on the journey, Drake has always been confident and in control making on the spot decisions without a second thought. Now he is moping around instead of just manning up and asking his brother to join him on his journey. Grabbing his bone Cube took aim and threw it at the back of Drake's head. The pallet native fell of his swing.

"What was that for!?" Drake angrily asked his ground type. Putting a hand on the aching spot on the back of his head, he was really angry.

"Bone, Cubone Bone." Cubone replied in a manner that showed he clearly didn't care.

"What do you mean it was my fault for moping and I should just mon up and ask Ash!" Drake shouted. Cubone looked at his trainer and nodded as confirmation because that is what he meant. He then stuck out his tongue which just angered Drake. "You're gonna get it!".

Drake made a dive for the lonely Pokemon, but Cubone easily jumped into the air, dodging his trainer. Cubone landed on Drake's head before jumped off and pulled a mocking face at his trainer who is currently lying in the dirt. Drake hastily stood up and started chasing Cubone around the park.

As the trainer and Pokemon were busy chasing each other, they failed to notice another trainer with a Pikachu by his feet walking up to the park. The newcomers just watched as Drake tried and failed to get his ground with sweat drops.

"Um... Do you think we picked a bad time Pikachu?" Ash asked as he looked to his starter.

"Well, it doesn't look like a good time." Pikachu replied. The sound of the two voices drew both Drake's and Cubone's attention who came to a stop and looked at the new arrivals. Reluctantly, Drake walked over to his brother with Cubone by his feet. Maybe he should do what Cubone said and just ask him.

"Hey Ash." Drake greeted.

"Hey Drake, mum sent me to get ya." Ash replied. "She said to hurry cause dinners almost done.".

"K. I was just gonna nip to the lab, I was hoping to see ya there." Drake replied.

"Well you should have time; the Professor gave me; Serena and Leaf new Pokedexes. I'm sure he has one for you two." Ash explained.

"Thanks Ash, I'll go and see him." Drake replied. "So... I guess you're heading off tomorrow.".

"Right, were all packed. Me; Serena; Leaf; Misty and Brock." Ash replied excited. "It's gonna be awesome.".

"That's only four people, didn't you get five guest tickets?" Drake asked.

"Right, but the boat leaves tomorrow evening so that's not much time." Ash replied. Ash smiled and turned around. "See ya at home then, hurry up. Mum won't let me start eating until everyone's ready.".

"Hehehe, sure." Drake laughed, trust his brother to worry about food. Ash started to walk back to the house and Drake knew this is his last chance, if he doesn't ask him now than he won't get another chance. Drake ran up behind his. "Ash, hold on a second.".

"What is it Drake?" Ash asked turning to his brother.

"I... Was just wondering if I could maybe join ya, since you have that free spot?" Drake asked.

"Um, sure. You want to go to the Orange Islands?" Ash replied.

"Yes... But I was thinking we could travel together." Drake replied. "Ya know, like dad suggested.". A giant smile grew on Ash's face as he heard what his brother suggested. While it is true that he wants this, he just didn't want to suggest it. After all, it isn't exactly Drake's style.

"Sure Drake, this will be awesome." Ash cheered. Although he stopped when he realised something. "But... Only those invited can compete in the Orange League.".

"Don't worry about that Ash, you've earnt it. I haven't." Drake replied. "This next journey will allow me to learn the one thing I haven't been able to do, bond with my Pokemon. I could also help you out, and maybe you could win.".

"This is gonna be great. You'll need get Charizard as we're flying to Vermillion so we make it on time." Ash told him. "Who else are you taking, other than Pikachu and my three flyers. I am taking Gyarados and Wartortle.".

"Probably just Cubone and Charizard. The others know their training so they can get on with it at the lab." Drake replied.

"Hold on, I thought you wanted to learn to bond with your Pokemon." Ash replied. "Why leave them at the lab?".

"That way they can get their training done while I observe you." Drake replied. "At the lab, the Pokemon can train from the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep and don't need to take prolonged breaks because of travelling.".

"But what about all the experiences you can have together?" Ash asked.

"Other than gym battles, what could we experience?" Drake asked.

"Training and working together, learning the likes and dislikes of all your Pokemon." Ash replied. Drake's expressionless face told Ash all he needed to know. "Just trust me Drake, and you'll be bonding with your Pokemon in no time.".

"If you say so... I guess I'll be taking six Pokemon with me." Drake replied with a sigh. When it comes to bonding, Ash is the expert and he would be stupid not to take his advice. "Who would you suggest I take?".

"You're already taking Charizard and Cubone... How about Starmie and Victreebel. Starmie could take a swim with Wartortle and Gyarados, and I bet Victreebel would love all the sun... The last too are up to you.".

"Hmm, okay than. Cubone; Charizard; Starmie and Victreebel." Drake replied. "I guess I'll choose the last two when I get to the lab.". Ash smiled, Drake really is trying to make amends for his previous attitude towards him and is really trying to bond with his Pokemon.

The two brothers parted ways as Ash and Pikachu walked home while Drake and Cubone walked off towards the lab. Despite being polar opposites, the twins are a like in many ways. Both wanted to travel together but neither had the courage to suggest it. In the end, it came down to the combined efforts of Delia and Cubone.

* * *

"That's wonderful boys." Delia commented as she took another bite of food. She is sat at the dinner table with: Ash; Drake; Brock; Pikachu; Togepi and Mimey. She cooked a big sending off meal for Ash and was just told that Drake would be accompanying him. "Don't forget to let the girls know.".

"Priiii!" Togepi cheered. He may not know what the grownups are talking about but he is happy to see them all happy. Plus, he can't wait to try that choc choc cake he helped Granny bake. Of course, the only help he gave was licking the spoon but that is a very important job.

"Your happy to travel with Drake too, Togepi?" Ash asked with a light chuckle. Togepi currently has a bowl of mashed banana and bottle of milk beside him. Although most of the mash banana is on him. Togepi smiled and picked up the bottle, drinking it. While Ash is trying to whine him off it, he isn't quite there yet. "Don't worry mum, I'm gonna call Serena on her Pokegear once we've finished. Leaf and Misty are staying at hers tonight so they will know.".

No-body seemed to notice Drake wince at that name. Leaf was travelling with them, at least until they got that Pokeball the Professor told him about. He doesn't know why but Leaf is one of very few things that actually scares him. Although he struggled at first, he seems to get on pretty well with Serena; Misty and Brock. His relationship with Ash is the best it's ever been but with Leaf, there is just something about her that leaves Drake on edge.

"I guess that's another one to add to the feeding list." Brock mused. "Ash, reminded me to stock up on supply's when we get to Vermillion.".

"Will do Brock." Ash replied as he swallowed another hearty mouthful of his mother's cooking. He then turned to his brother who seemed to relax after hearing about Leaf as to not raise suspicion. "Awe man Drake, wait until you get a load of Brock's cooking.".

"Hmm, sounds good." Drake replied basing his answer off Ash's gushing.

"So, honey, how did you stay fed around Kanto?" Delia asked.

"At the start, I just lived off sandwich's. That got boring quick so when I reached Celadon City I brought a cook book and taught myself to cook before setting off for Saffron." Drake explained. "It's nothing great but enough to live on.".

"You know how to cook?" Ash questioned.

"More or less." Drake replied.

"That a relief, I wanted to teach you both how to cook before you set off but we never got around to it." Delia replied with a sigh of relief. Drake looked to the floor, he can make a good guess that he was the one who put an end to those plans because of his behaviour towards Ash.

Ash was also looking at the floor, if he never met Brock than he would've probably been stuck. Although he was travelling with Serena at the time, and Misty too, none of them knew how to cook. Well, Serena does now thanks to Brock's teaching, but Ash and Misty still don't. Even then, Misty at least attempted to cook for them one day where she made soup, so even Togepi could have some, as it was when Ash first started to whine him. Now it makes sense why he is being difficult to get off milk and also his dislike towards Misty, it isn't just about the rude awakening when he first hatched. Still, they wouldn't have that problem if he knew how to cook.

Delia was about to ask her sons what was wrong when Ash turned to the Pokemon breeder. "Hey Brock, could you teach me how to cook?".

"You want to learn how to cook?" Drake asked as he; Cubone; Pikachu and Togepi all looked flabbergasted. Well, that's how the first free looked. Togepi, on the other hand, was eyeing up that choc choc cake which is positioned behind Ash. Of course, he isn't one for solid food yet but think of the messy fun he could have with that.

"Yeah." Ash replied with a nod of the head and serious look. "If it wasn't for Brock, I don't know what I would've done over Kanto. Since I'm growing up and I'll be learning to think more in battles thanks to you, I might as well learn to cook whilst I'm at it.".

Brock smiled as he heard Ash speak. Of course, he loves to cook and was happy to do that every day while on the road but he can't deny that teaching Serena has gave him a triumphant feeling especially when he saw her cook her first meal by herself and is more than happy to do the same with Ash.

"Sure Ash, I'm more than happy to teach you how to cook." Brock replied with a smile.

"Awesome, thanks Brock." Ash exclaimed before digging back into his meal.

Delia smiled as everyone else also went back to eating. This couldn't be better and is such a contrast to the time before their journey. The boys wouldn't say more than a couple of words towards each other. Well, Ash would attempt to but Drake never accepted his attempts. Honestly, she was scared that by going on separate journeys would just drive them apart but on the contrary, they are closer now then they have ever been.

Once they finished eating, Ash did as he said he would and called Serena on his Pokegear to let the girls know about the new travelling companion who will be accompanying them to the Orange Islands.

* * *

"That's great Ash, I'll be sure to let Misty and Leaf know right away." Serena replied genuinely happy for her boyfriend. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you.". She blew him a kiss as they could see each other's face on the Pokegear and couldn't help but giggle when his cheeks turned bright red. Although was happy when he said the same words back just before the screen went blank.

Serena sighed happily as she sat on the toilet seat. Of course, she didn't speak to Ash while on the toilet but she was in the bathroom brushing her hair when she received the call and sat down whilst speaking to him. It is hard to believe it has nearly been a year since they got together. Two more sleeps before their first anniversary. Of course, they will be on the boat for the whole day but that is just fine as long as they spend it together. Besides, a boat is one of the most romantic settings imaginable. With happy thoughts about her anniversary with Ash and the good news to tell her guests, Serena made her way back to her room.

Entering her room, she found Leaf and Misty on the floor in their sleeping bags with their pj's on, because of a lack of a guest room in the Yvonne house Misty has been sleeping in Serena's room whilst in Pallet. Leaf suggested they have a sleepover which the girls agreed to. Serena's sleeping bag is also on the floor as she prefers to sleep with everyone else when having a sleep over. Mostly because she feels bad about having a bed whilst the others have the floor.

"What's got you so happy?" Misty asked.

"Oh nothing." Serena replied absentmindedly. "But Ash just called, he told me Drake is taking the last guest spot and is joining us on our orange Islands journey.".

"Drake's coming with us!" Leaf exclaimed a lot louder than she would've liked. "Yes.".

"What... Are you going to try to get to fly with him to Vermillion?" Misty asked in a teasing tone.

"That's a great idea Misty, thanks." Leaf replied as she hugged the orange haired girl, taking her by surprise.

"I meant that as a joke." Misty mumbled as Leaf let go.

"It's too bad you're going off on your own after we get the GS ball, Leaf." Serena told her best friend. "Ya know if you change your mind than you might be able to claim Drake once and fall.".

"I would love to travel with you guys, but there are so many awesome places to visit in the Orange Islands and with Ash taking on the league, I wouldn't have nearly enough time. I still plan to come and support him when he takes the league on though." Leaf explained. "And what do you mean claim Drake? Are you saying someone's going to take him away whilst you two are my eyes and ears?".

"Oh no, Serena isn't saying that. It's just that Drake hasn't been the most accepting towards your affection." Misty reassured.

"Drake will notice and return my feeling, just wait and see." Leaf declared.

"But wasn't it you who told me to just tell Ash how I felt back before we got together?" Serena asked. "Why don't you take your own advice?".

"Because I like him, and it is easier said than done." Leaf replied. "So, the next best thing is show him my feelings so he can return and confess his own feeling.".

"But in the end, Serena had to confess her feelings... Even if it was when Ash was unconscious." Misty replied while muttering the last part.

"Ash was unconscious?" Leaf questioned. "Did you sneak in to his room Serena, to watch him sleep?".

"No." Serena stated affirmatively with a bright red face. "It was when we were at the Pokemon Centre. And Ash claimed Haunter turned him and Pikachu into a ghost before he caught her.".

"Ash's Haunter is just weird." Leaf replied and the two girls nodded in agreement. Now that the talk with Leaf about her crush on Drake, it is time to bring up a similar subject with Misty after her reaction to our visiting the Orange Islands.

"Okay Misty, spill." Serena told the water type trainer.

"What?" Misty asked trying to act oblivious but her facing was turning red.

"Ever since you've learnt we're going to the Orange Islands you've been smiling no stop." Serena replied with a suspicious look. "It isn't like you, Misty. Is there someone your looking forward to seeing? Maybe a boy?".

"What?" Misty laughed nervously. "Of course not, don't be ridiculous.".

"Maybe it's a girl than." Leaf stated with a smirk. Leaf was met by a pillow in the face curtsy of Misty. "Hahahahaha, relax I was just kidding Misty... mostly.". Lucky for Leaf, Misty didn't hear the last word she muttered under her breath.

"Come on Misty, I told you about my crush on Ash." Serena encouraged.

"You didn't exactly try to hide it." Misty muttered.

"You mean like your blush right now?" Serena asked with a triumphant smirk.

"Fine." Misty replied with a sigh. "I might've met someone who live in the orange Islands... And happens to be one of the gym leaders Ash will need to face to compete.".

"Really? Who?" Serena asked excited.

"That... Doesn't matter." Misty replied turning away from the two girls. "He probably doesn't even remember me.".

"I guess we'll find out which one it is when Ash is battling the gym leader Misty is completely red." Leaf shrugged her shoulders. "We should probably tell the boys so they know to keep an eye out.".

"No no no, fine. His name is Rudy... And he has a little sister called Mahri who is the cutest thing alive and so full of energy. We met first at the beach in Vermillion City when you and Ash went on that boat with Gary." Misty explained gaining more confidence and getting more excited as she went on. "Then we met up again at the festival outside of Fuchsia City, and he invited me to join them. We walked together holding hands, he constantly called me beautiful and was the first guy to show any real interest in me, not just look at me as some sort of tomboy.".

"Don't worry Misty, when we get to Rudy's gym me and Ash will be sure to give you some space so you can spend some time together." Serena reassured.

"You sure that isn't just because you want your Ashy all to yourself?" Leaf asked with a teasing smirk. Now it was Serena's turn blush and like Misty, delivered a pillow to Leaf's face who fell over laughing. Both Serena and Misty agreed it was time to go bed.

* * *

Currently, Ash; Serena; Leaf Drake; Misty and Brock are all stood outside the Ketchum residence. Rose; Grace and Professor Oak came by to see the kids off, as Aerodactyl; Pidgeot; and the two Charizard were all lined up. Ash was in his new travelling clothes as was Serena.

"Now children, once the induction ceremony has finished on Pummelo Island go straight to Professor Ivy's lab on Valencia Island." The Professor instructed.

"We will Professor, and we will call you once we have that Pokeball in hand." Ash reassured the Professor.

"Thank you, my boy. Good luck in the Orange League." The Professor replied.

"Remember boys, don't forget to..." Delia told her two sons but were cut off.

"We won't!" Ash and Drake replied in unison with bright red faces. That reaction caused the others to laugh. Leaf smiled, since Drake is going with them maybe she could get to fly with him just like suggested last night. She slyly slides next to the oldest twin.

"Hey Drake, since your coming with us maybe I could fly with you on Charizard." Leaf suggested. "I'm sure Serena and Pidgeot would prefer to fly alone since they know each other better.".

"Hehehe, sorry Leaf but Charizard only lets me fly on him." Drake nervously laughed. While he is doing a good job at being friendlier the only acceptations are Gary and Leaf. Gary has always had a weird sort of problem with him, for whatever reason and Leaf is just... Weird.

Charizard heard his trainer's excuse and smirked. He has no problem taking two people on him, he is more than strong enough to handle them.

"Great..." Leaf muttered as she mopped back to Serena's side. Rose giggled at her daughter's reaction, and they said Serena was obvious with her crush.

"Be sure to call me when you arrive sweetie." Grace told Serena. "And keep safe too. I hope you find a dream to follow.".

"Don't worry mum, I will. Plus, I have Ash and the others with me." Serena replied.

"Yes, you do." Grace smiled as she hugged her daughter.

"Well I guess we should get going." Ash told the group as Aerodactyl moved up behind him.

"Take care, children." The professor replied.

"Stay safe boys and call once in a while." Delia added.

"Have fun Leaf, and good luck." Rose smiled with a wink. Leaf blushed and nodded.

"I will mum, thanks." Leaf replied.

"And don't forget to put that Super Rod to good work." Rose added. She brought her daughter one of the best fishing rods on the market to help her complete her search for all the water types. Misty's eyes seemed to sparkle when she heard that.

"You have a super rod!?" Misty asked as she jumped to Leaf's side. She has always wanted one but her sisters would never buy one as their appearance is much more important and she already has an old rod. Leaf nodded to the water type trainer. "Would you mind if I borrowed it?".

"Not at all, we can try it on the boat while we wait to get to Pummelo Island." Leaf replied with a friendly smile.

"Oh, thank you." Misty cooed as she crushed the brunette in a bone crushing hug. Misty soon let her out of the tight embrace with a cheesy smile. "Hehehe, sorry about that.".

"Don't worry about it." Leaf reassured before turning to her mother and giving her a hug. "See ya, mum.".

"Don't forget to stay in contact Serena, I know you will find a new dream." Grace told her daughter.

"Thanks mum, I will." Serena replied. "Goodbye.".

"Yeah, see ya later." Misty and Brock replied in unison.

"See ya mum, and by everyone." Ash added. Drake was silent and nodded his head as his own goodbye.

With all goodbyes made, the group climbed onto the respective flying types. Ash is on Aerodactyl with Pikachu and Togepi; Drake is on his Charizard with Cubone; Serena and Leaf are Pidgeot; with Brock and Misty on Ash's Charizard. Soon, they were all in the air, with Aerodactyl leading the pack. The two Charizard's were racing against each other although couldn't catch up to the dinosaur. Pidgeot sighed, boys will be boys. She soon took off in a gentler manor, easily catching up to the two Charizard she squawked at them to ensure they stop messing around and fly properly.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	2. On the Way to The Orange League

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the second part of the Orange Island Arc. Based on the title, it should be obvious that this will have some amourshipping in it. Misty also catches a new Pokemon, originally, I was going to give her it at the beginning of Johto but I figured I might as well put it in here. It is a cannon Pokemon of hers. Also, after writing all the league battles the first few chapter won't have much battles seeing as I need a break from them, don't expect any major battles until the gym chapters start which is going to be chapter 6. Question Time:_**

 ** _Jasmine:_**

 ** _Q) Will Drake get an brand new water type pokemon? A) He will get a new Pokemon, you will need to wait to see which._**

 ** _Q) Also, will Ash's Wartortle evolved into an Blastoise in the orange Islands. A) One of Ash's Pokemon will evolve in this arc, wait and see which._**

 ** _Q) Will Misty get an Seel in the orange islands. A) Misty's one and only new capture is in this chapter._**

 ** _Q) Will Drake get an water type pokemon or ice type pokemon. A) See the answer to your first question._**

 ** _Remember to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 2: On the Way to The Orange League_

High in the skies above Kanto, our group is currently in flight towards Vermillion city where they will catch the boat which'll take them to the Orange League induction on Pummelo Island. In the lead is Ash on his Aerodactyl with Togepi and Pikachu, as the oldest and arguably most experienced of the flyers, Aerodactyl likes to take the lead. Right behind him is Serena and Leaf on Pidgeot, with the two Charizard by the girl's side. Drake is on his own Charizard along with Cubone while Brock and Misty are riding Ash's Charizard. When the flight started, the two Charizard's were racing but Pidgeot soon put an end to the boisterous games.

"How are you holding up guys?" Ash turned back and asked his flying type. He would ask Aerodactyl as well, but the Fossil Pokemon would take some offence in the gesture. He is arguably Ash's strongest Pokemon and this little flight is nothing for him. He is only fussy about only flying Ash because that is who he was sent to support and mentor. While he hasn't got a problem with

"Fine." Pidgeot replied affirmatively. While she is a battle lover, she also takes great pride her flight skills. She is doing her best to give passengers the most comfortable flight she can. This is also why she stopped the boys race, as she knows she would whip the floor with both of them, but that would make the girls uncomfortable.

"A little bored..." Ash's Charizard growled under his breath. He, on the other hand doesn't care much for a smooth ride, he rarely gets to stretch his wings over a flight like this and as such wants to true let loose and show his speed. Although a quick glare from Pidgeot made Charizard straighten up, he knows all too well the terror which is the female bird next to him. "I-I'm good Ash, thanks for asking.".

Pidgeot smiled as she saw the fear in the fire lizard's eyes. Since evolving she might've taken more of a motherly roll among Ash's Pokemon, much like how Kangashkan has that roll from Serena's Pokemon, compared to the loner ranger she was when still a Pidgeotto. Of course, she has proven to be among Ash's strongest Pokemon and that just means she is that much more effective. Especially when it comes to handling a certain ground type in Ash's group.

"We're good too, Ash." Leaf informed from Pidgeot's back. While she is upset that she couldn't either fly on Aerodactyl or fly with Drake she has to admit that from the looks of the three other flying types, Pidgeot definitely seems like the smoothest ride. "Thank you, Pidgeot.".

"Pidge Pidge!" Pidgeot squawked as she cooed as Leaf rubbed her head affectionately.

"Pidgeot says your welcome." Ash translated for his female flying type. Leaf smiled as she ended rubbing her head. Ash smiled at the scene, back before Pidgeot evolved, she was a lone ranger only really interacting with others when it came to training. Of course, she is still a training nut and prides herself at being the best bird Pokemon there is, but she is definitely more sociable and caring towards others. It just shows her growth over this journey.

Drake looked at his brother as Ash turned back around to check on Pikachu and Togepi. He has such a great bond with all his Pokemon, how could he even hope to get that same bond. Sure, he has a brotherly bond with Cubone but Drake doesn't even know how he got that. Ash just naturally has a bond with each of his Pokemon. Could Drake even make it that far or is he just going after something that he can only dream of reaching?

"Cubone Bone, Cu?" Cubone asked as he noticed his trainer looking off in the same direction for about a minute.

"Huh?" Drake questioned as he looked back to his ground type. "I'm okay, Cubone. Just thinking.".

Cubone nodded and looked back at the beautiful scenery below. It may seem strange since he is a ground type but the feeling of flight and seeing the beautiful scenery is one of the Lonely Pokemon's favourite pass times. Of course, he knows that he can't really fly but it is just a great feeling to soar through the clouds.

"Aerooooo!" The fossil Pokemon growled. To warn his fellow flying types. Not being the ones who can understand the Pokemon's native tongue, Drake; Leaf; Serena and Brock all looked to Ash. Misty, on the other hand looked like she was going to either throw up or pass out. Why couldn't she ride on the gentle bird?

"Aerodactyl said we need will start descending." Ash informed his friends. "See, Vermillion is just down there. So, hold on.".

As soon as Ash finished speaking, he turned back around and looped his arms around Aerodactyl's neck with Pikachu and Togepi between Aerodactyl's back and Ash's chest for safety. Seeing as his passengers are secure, Aerodactyl started his decent towards the city below. The others soon followed their lead and the four flying types were going in to land at The Port of Exquisite Sunset.

* * *

With a swift decent Aerodactyl swooped down and despite it being a little bumpy it was a big improvement to Aerodactyl's previous landings. Ash jumped off the rock flying types back with Pikachu on his shoulder and Togepi in his hand. He couldn't help but lightly chuckle at some of the reactions Aerodactyl was getting from the public. A couple of kids are looking at him with amazement while the parents are shielding them out of fear. Ash walked around to Aerodactyl's front.

"Thanks for the ride, Aerodactyl. I really appropriate it." Ash thanked as he rubbed under Aerodactyl's chin. Despite being a serious Pokemon, who isn't one for affection, Ash knows he has a weak spot right under his chin. Aerodactyl cooed slightly but didn't look impressed. "Hehehe, sorry buddy. I think you should rest in your Pokeball. Before you give someone a heart attack.".

Aerodactyl nodded in agreement. While that flight was nothing and he could easily do it ten times over before needing a rest, he can acknowledge that his species is feared and for good reason. While it isn't nice to be judged before people got to know him, he is fine spending time in his Pokeball before he is needed again.

The next one's to arrive were the two Charizard. Both were approaching the ground at incredible speeds but opened their wings at the last second, using them as a sort of parachute. Bring them to a sudden stop the fire flying types landed at pretty much the same time, both letting out a roar to signal there arrive. Drake quickly jumped of his starter, with Cubone by his feet.

"Return Charizard." Drake recalled his fire flying type, clipping the Pokeball back to his belt. Ash frowned when he saw this, it was the same back at the league, Drake didn't thank his Pokemon or anything of the sort. Ash walked up to his brother, who frowned himself when he saw Ash's expression. "What's up?".

"You didn't thank Charizard for your flight." Ash replied. "I saw the same thing at the league. Both in your battle against me and against Paul, you would just return your Pokemon before choosing your next one.".

"I did have a battle to focus on." Drake replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

"But they work hard for you." Ash replied. "You should at least thank them when they do something, they don't have to do it ya know.".

Drake frowned as Ash turned back to his own Charizard and made his way over to him. Brock was helping Misty stand who was looking like she was going to pass out, the trio thanked Charizard and Ash returned him. Drake looked at the Pokeball containing his own Charizard. How could he not of been thanking his Pokemon, he has always been good mannered yet the thought of actually thanking his Pokemon never even crossed his mind. How stupid could he have been?

"Thank you, Charizard... For everything." Drake whispered to his starters Pokeball.

The next to arrive were Leaf and Serena on the back of Pidgeot. Pidgeot gracefully landed and allowed the girls to slide down her wing. Once her passengers were off she turned to Ash, ready to give Charizard an earful for not listening to her and racing off. Ash smiled at her and made his way over to her.

"Thank you for that Pidgeot." Ash smiled as he rubbed her head. Pidgeot cooed at the affection. Drake just watched his brother. Pidgeot didn't even give him the ride yet he is thanking her. After ending the head rub, Ash returned his female bird. "Guys, I'm gonna call the professor and tell he we made it, remember the boat leaves here at half six tonight.".

The group nodded and Ash ran into the Pokemon Centre which they landed by. About five minutes later, Ash walked back out with his hat missing and a sour look on his face.

"What's the matter Ash?" Serena asked. "And what happened to your hat?".

"I just changed Aerodactyl and Charizard for Ivysaur and Primeape." Ash replied. "I let them out to say hi, and Primeape took my hat. He is hiding in his Pokeball and isn't letting me have it back.".

"Why did you exchange them already?" Drake asked.

"Charizard and Aerodactyl are battle lovers, they won't go more than a couple days before doing some sort of training." Ash explained. "Since battling isn't allowed on the ship and we will be on it for two weeks I figured they would go nuts not battling for that amount of time.".

"So, what made you choose Ivysaur and Primeape?" Leaf asked.

"I figured Ivysaur would like the sun, seeing as the Orange Islands are a popular vacation spot." Ash replied. "I was thinking about who else to bring when Primeape walked up to the screen, he asked if he could come as well so I let him.".

"Don't worry Ash, Primeape just likes your hat." Serena reassured with a hug.

"I know..." Ash sighed before his typical bright expression returns. "Still, we have a couple of hours to spare. What do you want to do?".

"Well, I need to go shopping and stock up on supply's." Brock mentioned.

"Cool, I'll join ya Brock." Ash replied. "What about you guys.".

"Well Misty, now is as good as any time to let ya try out my super rod." Leaf suggested.

"Really?" Misty instantly perked up no longer looking like she was going to pass out because of the flight. "That would be awesome.".

"What about you two? Will you join us?" Leaf asked Serena and Drake at the same time.

"Sure, it sounds like fun." Serena smiled. Leaf turned her attention to Drake and mustered up the biggest Growlithe eyes she could. Drake sweat dropped at the sight, while it was meant to make her look 'cute' all it did in reality was scare Drake.

"I-I'm going with them." Drake stuttered, moving behind Ash.

Leaf pouted as she saw the boys walk off towards the shops. She wanted to spend some time with Drake and hopefully get him to confess. Guess that won't be happening... Yet.

* * *

Soon the girls were at the beach. Grabbing themselves some beach chairs they pulled them up to the shore line. Leaf took her Super Rod out and handed it to Misty who soon attached her special Misty lure to the end and tossed the end into the see.

"Come on out, Vaporeon." Misty called out her water type eeveelution. Vaporeon let out a graceful cry as she materialised on the sand, like some kind of sea siren, once she stopped she look at her trainer for some instructions. "Vaporeon, I'm fishing and I hope we can catch a new friend. Would you help me battle when I find one?". Vaporeon nodded after hearing her trainer and she walked over, lying down next to her trainer's chair. She will enjoy the sun until the time for battle arrives.

"Oh, I know." Serena spoke up, as she grabbed a Pokeball. Pressing the button, she released her Kabuto. The rock water type appeared on the sand, all tensed up, as soon as his eyes landed on his trainer, he jumped up and snuggled himself into her stomach. "Arg!".

"Serena!" Leaf called out as she went to cheek on her best friend. Serena fell over on the sand as she felt Kabuto's sharp pincers in her stomach. She knows the little mon doesn't mean to hurt her and is only showing his affection but that doesn't mean it makes all the pain go away. As soon as Kabuto realised that he did it again, he fell onto the sand and backed away.

"Hey, it's okay Kabuto." Serena reassured as she winced at the pain. She smiled and picked her timid fossil Pokemon up in her hand. When she stroked the top of his head, he relaxed under her touch. "I know you don't mean to hurt me, Kabuto. Just try to be more careful from now on.".

Kabuto nodded and nuzzled his head against Serena's cheek. He doesn't mean to hurt anyone, he is just a timid Pokemon by nature. He can't help it that he has these pincers on his body, he just likes to spend time with his trainer.

"You okay, Serena?" Leaf asked as she offered her hand. Serena accepted the gesture and Leaf pulled her up to her feet.

"Yeah Leaf, I'm good. Thank you." Serena smiled. She than looked at her water rock type. "What do you think, Kabuto? Want to go for a little swim in the sea?".

Kabuto listened to the suggested and nodded his head to answer the question. Back in the days before he was fossilised he would spend most of his time in the sea and while he has enjoyed being a part of Serena's team, he has missed the salty water which he called home.

Serena smiled and kicked her shoe's off. Walking towards the water, Serena only had her feet get wet as she didn't want all the fuss of getting changed seeing as they have to catch the boat on time. She lowered the rock water type into the water. Once Kabuto felt the sea water on his skin, he excitedly started to swim around, although he made sure to stay close to Serena.

Misty smiled as she watched Serena bond with her latest capture. In all honestly, Misty was kind of disappointed that she didn't have the chance to catch her own fossil Pokemon now she knows two of them were part water type. Although at the time, she didn't feel capable of handling one and didn't want to catch one in case it wasn't water type. Of course, Aerodactyl gets on great with Ash. Serena and Kabuto are really growing close and Brock and Omanyte are quite a pair so it looks like it all worked out for the best.

It was then that Misty felt a small tug on the Super Rod. It wasn't particularly strong, but it was something. Misty narrowed her eyes as the potential new team member has her full attention. She is an experienced fisher woman and knows pulling up right away would just leave her without a single Pokemon. Suddenly, the lure went under and the moment it did, Misty sprang into action, jumping to her feet. Vaporeon noticed this and entered a battle stance ready for whatever Pokemon is pulled up. With a hard pull, she started to reel in the Pokemon.

It took about ten seconds before Misty was proven victorious, with a final hard tug a tadpole looking Pokemon was pulled out of the water. By this time, Serena and Leaf were by her side to see what she caught. The Pokemon shook its self-dry before looking at the three girls and two water types.

"A Poliwag." Leaf spoke first. Serena smiled as she remembered this as the Pokemon she first saw when at Professor Oak's Summer Camp, not long after moving to Pallet. While she remembered her first meeting with Ash, she pulled out her Pokedex and scanned the water type:

 _Poliwag, The Tadpole Pokemon. Poliwag has a very thin skin. It is possible to see the Pokémon's spiral innards right through the skin. Despite its thinness, however, the skin is also very flexible. Even sharp fangs bounce right off it._

The Tadpole Pokemon looked at the group with a curious expression. Well, it is the orange-hair female who has the fishing rod. This water type has always wanted to have a trainer and knew what would happen when she bites down on the lure. To greet her hopefully new trainer, she stepped up to Misty. Vaporeon seemed on guard in case it tried anything... Only for Poliwag to nuzzle itself against Misty's leg with affection.

"Poli." Poliwag greeted in a cute voice.

"Awe, you are so cute." Misty cooed as she picked the tadpole Pokemon up. Vaporeon could tell that this particular Pokemon may not be a big battler, yet. Thus, she likely won't have to battle it. The water type eeveelution lay back down, although she would still be willing to fight if needed. "Hello Poliwag. My names Misty.".

"I'm Serena, and this is Kabuto." Serena introduced herself and her water rock type.

"And I'm Leaf." Leaf introduced.

"Poli Poliwag." Poliwag greeted the other people.

"Well Poliwag, I am a water type trainer and want to become a water type master." Misty explained. "I am even in line to take over a Pokemon gym when I'm old enough, and I'm on a journey to prepare for that. So, what do you say, wanna join my team?".

"Poli." Poliwag smiled with a nod of the head.

"That's great, Poliwag." Misty cheered clearly excited. Pulling out a Pokeball, she tapped it against Poliwag's head. The Tadpole Pokemon was sucked inside and the ball instantly dinged. Unfortunately, she already has six Pokemon on hand and her newly caught Poliwag was teleported back to her sisters.

"Congratulations Misty." Serena congratulated.

"Yeah Misty, which evolution route are you going to take with it?" Leaf asked.

"What do you mean, Leaf?" Serena asked.

"After a Poliwag evolves into Poliwhirl, it can evolve two ways." Leaf explained. "The first is into Poliwrath when exposed to a water stone, while if an item called a King's Rock is placed on its head, then it will evolve into a Politoad. Personally, my Poliwhirl wanted to become a Poliwrath.".

"I guess it will need to wait she evolves. After all, I don't have either a water stone or King's Rock." Misty replied. "Not to mention, it depends what Poliwag wants to evolve into, she is the one who has to live with it after all.".

"Good thought, Misty." Leaf replied. "Apparently, Pokemon with multiple evolution routes can suffer from drastic identity issues if they don't evolve how they want.".

"Well, for now I need to get my new Pokemon." Misty exclaimed as she passed the Super Rod to Leaf. In the blink of an eye, Misty was running off to call her sisters.

Leaf; Serena and Vaporeon all blinked in bewilderment as the processed how quickly Misty disappeared... One would think a bug Pokemon just showed up. With the surprise over, the group ran after the orange haired girl.

* * *

"What do you think, Vulpix?" Brock asked his fire type who he is holding in his hands. "Would you like to try this one?". He was showing the fox Pokemon a bottle of Pokemon shampoo which is Rawst Berries scented. Vulpix looked at the bottle before barking happily.

"Vulpix said she would like to give it ago." Ash translated. Brock smiled, while he appreciates Ash's translating and that has come in handy more than once while on their journey, he knows his Pokemon well enough to know what they are saying, or at least the general idea of it.

"Okay than, I will buy this for you." Brock told his fire type. He put this in the basket he was carrying while Vulpix walked by his feet. Brock's basket contained mostly breeding items. He had an extra set of cutlery for Drake for when he needs to cook for the group. Of course, they are fed on the boat but this is for the travels that follow. It also has a bag of mineral sand which he uses on his rock and ground types since they don't like to take baths for obvious reasons.

Ash's basket on the other hand was filled with snacks. He was buying snacks for the whole group, and also had a bottle of ketchup with a bag of sun seeds. Drake didn't have a basket and looked at his brother's basket with confusion.

"Ash, I thought we got fed on the boat?" Drake questioned.

"Only breakfast and tea. If we want anything during the day we need to take it with us." Ash replied.

"So, what's with the Ketchup?" Drake asked. "I doubt that would go with biscuits... And wouldn't the boat supply that for the actual meals?".

"It's for Pikachu." Ash smiled as he high-fived his starter who is positioned on his shoulder.

"And the sun seeds?" Drake asked. That is probably the most out their item in Ash's basket.

"There for Ivysaur." Ash replied. "Both him and Serena's Tangela love them. I bet your Victreebel will as well.".

"Okay..." Drake replied not knowing how to properly respond. "So, are we finished here?".

"Ya know if you didn't want to come than you didn't have too." Ash informed.

"Oh no, I would much rather be here than with the others." Drake replied.

"What's wrong with the girls?" Ash asked perplexed.

"Nothing's wrong with them, I get on fine with Serena and Misty." Drake replied. "It's just Leaf, she... Scares me.".

"Ya know Drake, your gonna need to do something about her eventually." Brock informed.

"What are you talking about?" Drake asked clearly having no clue as to what Brock is referring to.

"Yeah Brock? Why does he need to do something about her?" Ash asked in the same tone as his brother. Pikachu face palmed, despite being with Serena, Ash still hasn't figured out that Leaf has a crush on his brother despite it being just as obvious as Serena.

"Never mind." Brock decided not to be the one to spoil the surprise. Besides, Serena was mad when he revealed her feelings to Ash and from what he's seen, Leaf is even more dangerous when angry. "But it is clear you two are brothers.".

The two brothers looked at each other with clueless expressions on and shrugged their shoulders in sync. They noticed Brock was making his way to the check-out and decided to join him. They can worry about what he was talking about later.

* * *

In the Pokemon Centre, Misty arrived well ahead of Serena and Leaf as she is just excited to have her new Poliwag and get to know it better. She dialled in the Cerulean Gym number and after about thirty seconds the screen lit up with the image of her eldest sister.

"Like, hey there Misty." Daisy greeted. "Where are you? We haven't seen you in for ever.".

"Hey Daisy. It's good to see you too." Misty smiled in response. Just making it into the Pokemon centre are Serena and Leaf who decide to grab a drink from the vending machine while they wait for Misty to finish.

"Like, hold on one second Misty." Daisy told her younger sister. The blonde-haired girl turned around before shouting. "Violet! Lily! Misty is on the phone, like, come and say hi.".

Soon Misty's two other sisters we're also filling up the screen. The two girls smiled when they say their little sister. Misty smiled as she remembers her last time seeing her sister's when Ash was training for the league. She made a quick visit to see them and all her sister's apologised for their treatment of her. It looks like they really are being nicer towards her.

"Hey Misty." Violet greeted first. "Like, where are you now? You should totally, like, visit.".

"Yeah, like, we could do a show together." Lily added. "Especially with this little cutie pie.". It was at this point the Lily moved so Misty could see her new Poliwag in her older sister's arms.

"Hehehe, sorry but I'm waiting for a boat with my friends to take us to the Orange Archipelago." Misty replied.

"Say what!?" All three of her sisters exclaimed at once.

"Like, why didn't you invite us!?" Daisy asked.

"Oh my gosh, like, you totally have to tell us about the beeches!" Violet added.

"Don't forget, like, about all of the hot guys!" Lily added.

"Hehehe, sorry I didn't invite you but I'm only going because my friend is competing in the Orange League." Misty explained.

"Oh right, aren't you travelling with that black-haired boy with the Pikachu?" Daisy asked thoughtfully. "And isn't he your boyfriend?".

"What, gross!" Misty exclaimed. "He is not, nor will he ever be my boyfriend. If anything, he is like an annoying little brother, not to mention he is dating my friend, Serena, and I wouldn't do that to her.".

"Like, chill Misty. It was just a joke." Violet told her younger sister.

"Anyway, I didn't call to tell you about the Orange Islands or talk about boyfriends." Misty replied. "I want to exchange one of my Pokemon for my Poliwag your holding, I just caught her and she was transported to you guys.".

"Like, I was wondering where this one came from." Lily replied. "It's such a bummer. I was, like, so hoping to add her to my collection.".

"Can we just make the exchange, I don't want to miss my boat?" Misty requested.

"Sure Misty, but like, your gonna need to send one of your Pokemon back first." Daisy reminded.

"Okay, but who should I send?" Misty asked.

"Well, we need one who is good at battling. Like, all our Pokemon are exhausted after a swarm of trainers came by for gym badges." Violet explained.

"Oh, I know. Like, send us your Vaporeon." Violet replied. "She is strong, and like, don't forget the great performance she put on last time.".

"Yeah... After I got her back, she made me promise that she wouldn't have to, and I'm quoting here, 'do one of those stupid silly performances again'." Misty replied using the exact words Ash translated for her. "If you want a strong battler, then it will either by Kingler or Starmie since Tentacruel also made me promise not to send her back.".

Misty's first instinct is to send her Kingler back but now that she thinks about it, he is one Pokemon she doesn't have a great relationship with. Of course, she cares for all her Pokemon but she seems to know her: Starmie; Goldeen; Tentacruel and Vaporeon better. Hell, she is probably closer to Psyduck, considering he has been on her team since she caught him. If she just sends Kingler back then that wouldn't really change, will it?

"Okay guys, I'm going to send Starmie back." Misty told her sisters.

"Like, Starmie?" Lily questioned.

"She was, like, your starter. Are you sure?" Daisy asked.

"Of course, unlike my other Pokemon. Starmie doesn't mind helping you perform in your shows." Misty replied. "Plus, other than Tentacruel she is my only Pokemon registered to compete in gym battles. And is willing to listen to you three.".

"Okay Misty, give us a sec." Daisy told her younger sister before they walked off screen. A few seconds later, they returned and Lily was no-longer hold her new Poliwag. Misty took out her Starmie's Pokeball and smiled at it before placing it on the transporter.

"Alright, ready this end." Misty told her sisters.

"Same here." Daisy replied and soon Starmie's Pokemon was transported away in a ball of electricity. A few seconds later a different Pokeball appeared on the transporter. Misty smiled as she picked up.

"All clear on this end." Misty smiled as she showed her sisters her Pokeball.

"Us too, Misty." Daisy replied also holding up the Pokeball containing her Starmie.

"Okay guys, take good care of Starmie and say hello to Goldeen for me." Misty requested. "I need to get going for this boat.".

"Will do Misty, and like, call us more often." Daisy told her little sister.

"Right, like, tell us about the beaches and hot guys when you get there." Lily added.

"Even find one for yourself, like, you deserve the best." Violet added with a wink.

Misty blushed as her mind went straight to a certain gym leader in the Orange League who she met a couples while travelling around Kanto. Push the thought of Rudy to the back of her mind she smiled, her sisters really were changing and looking out for her. Of course, she isn't happy about how they forced a few of her Pokemon to perform in shows with them but no-body got hurt and she is sure they won't do it again now that she has told them not to.

"Okay, bye guys." Misty waved bye to her three sisters.

"Bye Misty!" The three sisters waved back in unison as the screen faded to black.

Misty sighed happily once the screen faded to black and turned her attention to the Pokeball she just received from them. Of course, she will miss both Starmie and Goldeen but she will make sure to rotate her team around again while in the Orange Islands. Although the strange thing is, out of all her Pokemon the only one not to spend any time at the gym is the derpy duck himself and what's even stranger is the fact that arguably she is closest to Psyduck then anyone else. Well, that doesn't matter. After all, she loves all her Pokemon and she will be sure to build on her relationship with Kingler and to build one with Poliwag, speaking of...

"Misty calls, Poliwag." Misty called out her latest team member. The Tadpole Pokemon appeared on the table which the video phone is on and looked at Misty with a bright smile. "Hey Poliwag, sorry you got transported to my sisters but I already had six Pokemon.".

"Poli." Poliwag cried happily as she jumped into her trainer's arms. Misty caught the pure water type and returned the gesture with a big hug. The show off affection told Misty all was forgiven which brought a smile to the water type specialist face. Standing up with Poliwag snuggling into her stomach, Misty made her way over to her two friends.

"Hey Misty." Serena greeted. "I see you have Poliwag.".

"Yeah, I sent Starmie to the gym for the time being." Misty smiled.

"Starmie?" Leaf questioned. "I would've thought that you'd send Psyduck; Shelder or Kingler back. After all, Starmie; Tentacruel and Vaporeon seem to be your go to battlers.".

"I know Leaf, but that is exactly why I sent Starmie back." Misty replied. "I already have a great relationship with those three so I want to build up my relationships with my other Pokemon too.".

"That's great Misty, I'm sure you will have a great bond with all your Pokemon." Serena smiled. "See, Poliwag already seems to love you lots already.".

"Yeah, she sure is affectionate." Misty replied while giving her latest catch a hug.

"Well come on, we need to meet the boys at the dock." Leaf excitedly exclaimed as she ran to the doors.

"Hehehe, you Leaf is just excited to see Drake." Misty whisper to Serena.

"Yep." Serena also giggled lightly. "But isn't she likely to just scare him away with how clingy she's been?".

"Maybe... But being clingy worked out alright for you." Misty laughed which caused Serena to blush before they walked off after Leaf.

* * *

"Hey guys!" Misty called out as she saw the three boys walking towards them with an excited smile on her face. Serena and Leaf turned towards the direction Misty was looking just as the boys stopped in front of them. They are stood at the dock where they will board the cruise ship to Pummelo Stadium, of course this boat won't have every participating trainer as not all of them are coming from Kanto plus it is going to have loads of other passengers who are heading to the Orange Islands for their vacations.

"Hey." Ash replied. Serena quickly greeted him with a hug while Leaf greeted Drake in the same way, much to his discomfort. Soon the embraces ended and Serena stood by Ash's side hold his free hand seeing as the other hand is holding Togepi. Leaf tried to hold Drake's hand, but he had both his hands in his pockets and wasn't going to risk letting Leaf hold it. He might not get it back. It was Brock who took notice of the clearly excited water type trainer.

"Hey Misty, you seem happy." Brock commented.

"Right, that's because Leaf let me borrow her Super Rod and I caught a new water Pokemon." Misty explained taking the Pokeball containing her new Pokemon in her hand. Ash and Brock seemed intrigued to see who this new Pokemon is while Drake just looked on, it doesn't really affect him in any way.

"So what kind of Pokemon did you catch?" Ash asked.

"Check her out for yourself." Misty replied. "Come on out and say hi.". Throwing the Pokeball in the air, Misty's latest capture came out. In a flash of light, Poliwag appeared in front of the boys. Tilting her head in confusion she turned to her new trainer before jumping into Misty's arms.

"A Poliwag." Drake stated the obvious.

"Cool, I don't remember seeing one over Kanto." Ash stared at the water type. "Come to think of it, I can't remember seeing one since... Professor Oak's Summer camp, all that time ago.". Ash suddenly felt Serena tighten her grip on Ash's hand. Ash blushed as he remembers it was because of a Poliwag that he first met Serena.

"How cute." Leaf teased the couple in a sing-song tone. She then turned to Drake. "Drake, can you remember when we first met?".

"Not really, you were just always sort of there." Drake replied bluntly. Leaf pouted as Drake turned to look down the dock, he spotted a big cruise ship with a smartly dress man stood to the side to let people board. "Guys, isn't that our boat?".

Turning to look where Drake was looking, everyone saw the cruise ship. Ash took the letter out of his pocket and looked at the name of the ship they were taking and sure enough, it matched the name that was written on the banner above the smartly dressed man.

"Your right Drake, guess we should go and board since its here." Ash replied.

The others agreed and walked down to the man. Misty decided to keep Poliwag out as she wants to spend some time with her new Pokemon. Soon they arrived in front of the man. Who smiled when he saw them.

"Good day, I am Porter. Are you boarding this ship today?" The man identified as Porter greeted.

"Um, yes sir." Ash replied as he took the letter out and passed it to Porter. "I'm Ash Ketchum and was told my five friends could join me as guests.".

"Ah yes, one of this year's Orange League contestants." Porter smiled. "You and your friends are welcome aboard. I would recommend going straight to reception to receive your room keys. I hope you enjoy the cruise and good look in league.".

"Thank you." Ash replied and the group made their way onto the boat.

* * *

It is late at night. Ash is in the bathroom attached to the room he is sharing with Brock and Drake. The girls are sharing their own room. Togepi is already asleep on the bedside table next to Ash's bed and Pikachu is with his trainer. After brushing his teeth, Ash rinsed his mouth out with a jolly smile on his face.

"What's got you so happy?" Pikachu asked.

"Why wouldn't I be happy?" Ash asked. "We're competing in the Orange League; things are better than ever with Drake and my relationship with Serena is as strong as ever... I can't believe in two days we would've been together for a who year.".

"Yeah, same day you caught Sandslash." Pikachu replied. "So, what are you doing for the anniversary?".

With that one question, Ash's jolly expression and most of the colour escaped his face. With everything that's happened, being invited to participate in the Orange League; that party they threw for him and Drake; even getting to know Drake better; means that he completely forgot to plan anything for their anniversary...

"Oh no Pikachu... I don't have anything planned." Ash stated in a petrified state. Pikachu looked at his trainer in disbelief, before falling off the sink which he was stood on, laughing his head off. This is hilarious.

* * *

Stood on the deck, it is currently the morning of the first day on the cruise. Ash is on the deck with Drake and all his Pokemon (on hand). Wartortle and Gyarados are taking a dip in the sea. Primeape has a sun chair out and is sunbathing with Ash's hat still on. Pidgeot is stretching her wings with a little flight. Finally, Pikachu, Cubone and Ivysaur are playing with a beach ball and Togepi. Ash had just got up from Gyarados' affectionate lick, and turned to his brother.

"What are you waiting for Drake, let your Pokemon out." Ash told his brother.

"But... What use will it serve?" Drake asked.

"So, you can play with them." Ash replied.

"Play with them?" Drake questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Right... How do you expect to bond when they are in their Pokeballs if not in battle?" Ash asked.

"Fair enough." Drake replied. He pulled out his five Pokeballs and released his: Charizard; Pinsir; Jolteon; Starmie and Victreebel. The five Pokemon looked at their trainer stood stiff while waiting for his instructions. "Okay... Um, we're on a cruise ship so... Enjoy yourselves, I guess... Oh, and no battling.".

The five Pokemon looked confused, they only came out for one of three reasons. The first is for feeding; the second is training and finally it's for battling. Soon the shock of having a sort of vacation faded.

Victreebel was the first to recover and he made his way to Primeape's side to also sunbath. From his position, he could see a certain water turtle with sunglasses. Darn, the sun is right in his eyes. If only he had something to protect his eyes. Slyly, the grass poison type slides his vine towards the shades on the pure water types face. They will do just nicely.

Charizard looked around to see what he could do and spotted Pidgeot in the air. Well, there's not much he can do on the boat and a nice flight sounds like a good idea. Soon the fire flying type was in the air, stretching his wings.

Starmie looked around and spotted the affectionate water flying type in the sea. While it can't understand this particular Pokemon and his habits of showing off his affection towards his trainer, it does like the sound of a cool dip in the water and went off for a swim.

Jolteon looked around for something for him to do. He has always been the most energetic of Drake's Pokemon and doesn't want to just lie around and actual do something active. Cubone and Drake's brothers Pokemon seem to be playing a ball game right now. That looks like fun but, Jolteon has never interacted with these Pokemon, can he just go up and ask to play? Cubone noticed the electric type eeveelution and waved over to him, inviting him to join in. Soon Pikachu; Ivysaur and Togepi joined in. Jolteon was shocked that they were willing to let him join in, considering he is practically a stranger.

The two brothers smiled as they looked out at all the Pokemon. Drake doesn't know why but just seeing his Pokemon enjoy themselves, is bringing a smile to his face and even more surprisingly, he has picked up on little character quirks he learnt from his Pokedex. For example, his Victreebel has an Impish nature and is currently wearing Wartortle's sunglasses which he 'borrowed'.

Ash frowned when he looked to the side and found Drake's Pinsir looking at the wall. Nudging his brothers arm, Ash pointed out the upset Stag Beetle to his brother who looked confused.

"What's up with Pinsir?" Drake asked.

"I don't know, he's your Pokemon." Ash replied.

"Well, you're the one who understands Pokemon better." Drake retorted.

"Um, can I borrow your Pokedex?" Ash asked.

"Sure." Drake replied before handing the device over to his brother. "But what for?".

"He's your Pokemon, I'm gonna see if this can tell me anything." Ash replied.

"And if it can't?" Drake asked.

"Then was ask Brock to give him a check over in case he's sick." Ash replied before scanning his brother's bug type:

 _Pinsir, The Stag Beetle Pokemon. Pinsir has a pair of massive horns. Protruding from the surface of these horns are thorns. These thorns are driven deeply into the foe's body when the pincer closes, making it tough for the foe to escape._

 _Type: Bug_

 _Ability: Hyper Cutter_

 _Hidden Ability: Moxie (Note: This hidden ability is currently locked)_

 _Sex: Male_

 _Nature: Hardy_

 _Move(s): Vice Grip, Focus Energy, Bind, Seismic Toss, Harden, Revenge, Vital Throw, Double Hit, Brick Break, X-Scissor, Submission, Storm Throw, Thrash, Superpower, Guillotine, Rock Tomb, Bug Bite, Quick Attack, Knock Off_

"Hmm..." Ash mused as he went over the information.

"What is it?" Drake asked.

"Simple, Pinsir is bored." Ash replied as he handed his brother the Pokedex back.

"How did you work that one out?" Drake asked.

"According to your Pokedex, his nature is Hardy. Just like my Tauros." Ash replied.

"But I thought all Pokemon are different." Drake replied.

"Of course, they are." Ash replied. "Although, the natures just give off a vague idea of what the Pokemon is like. Since he shares the same nature as my Tauros, I bet he loves to battle like him. Right now, Pinsir is bored simply because he can't train or battle. That was why I left Tauros; Charizard and Aerodactyl back at the lab.".

"So... What should I do?" Drake asked.

"Go and talk with him." Ash replied before walk off.

"Wait, where are you going?" Drake asked.

"To pull a miracle out of thin air." Ash replied. "Or this may very well be my last day.".

Drake just looked confused as his brother walked away, what could possibly be so dangerous that he fears for his life if he can't pull off a miracle? Well, whatever. Once he was out of sight, Drake turned to his Pinsir and took a deep breath. How in hell is he supposed to talk with Pinsir? He can't understand Pokemon. Then again, he seems to know what Cubone is saying without Ash to translate.

Cubone seemed to sense Drake's uneasiness and turned to see his trainer approaching the bug Pokemon. Leaving the group currently playing catch to support him, the two stood in front of Pinsir stood to attention to listen to what his trainer wants.

"Hey Pinsir." Drake greeted with a friendly(ish) smile. Although it is clearer then the sky that Drake is well out of his comfort zone. "What's the matter?".

"Pin Pinsir. Pinsir Sir." Pinsir mumbled. The only thing that achieved was growing a massive sweat drop on the back of Drake's head. How is he supposed to understand what Pinsir is saying? He doesn't have aura which literally translates Pokemon native tongues.

"Did you get that, Cubone?" Drake asked his ground type.

"Bone, Cubone Bone." Cubone replied as he swung his bone around.

"You're saying Ash was right, Pinsir's upset because he can't battle?" Drake asked his ground type.

"Cu." Cubone nodded to answer his trainer's question.

" _Okay, so Ash was right_." Drake thought to himself before he realised he just understood what Cubone was saying.

Sure, it wasn't exactly a difficult thing to guess especially after Ash pointed the reason out but this isn't the first time it's happened. He has always sort of understood Cubone, just like at the park yesterday. Guess a strong bond will allow a trainer to understand their Pokemon.

"Pinsir?" Pinsir questioned.

"Cu?" Cubone also questioned.

"Huh, come on Pinsir. I know that you would like to train but your just not allowed on the boat, no Pokemon is." Drake explained. "I'm sorry I didn't leave you at the lab, I know both you and Machamp seem to enjoy the training the most. I'm just trying to get to know each of you better, I'm sorry.".

"Sir Pinsir." Pinsir replied.

To know that his trainer is trying to bond with his Pokemon is surprising, so far Drake has only bonded with the ground type by his feet. Not that the stag beetle minds, he doesn't need someone to hold his hand and say good job. He just wants to get strong and with Drake's training he is certainly on track to achieve that goal.

Suddenly, all attention was drawn towards Pinsir. Or rather Pinsir's stomach which growled loudly. This surprised Drake considering he only fed the stag beetle breakfast a couple hours ago. Now that he thought about it, Pinsir has always been sort of a gannet, eating way more than his other Pokemon.

"Come on Pinsir. Why don't I get you something to eat and we can work something out for you to do from there?" Drake suggested.

Pinsir nodded as Cubone jumped onto Drake's head. The trio walked off with bright smiles on all their faces. Drake was able to actual do something and not just rely on Ash, Cubone is just happy his trainer achieved such a thing and Pinsir is happy to be getting some more food.

* * *

Walking around the ship, Ash was in a very panicked state. He is currently in the gift shop, although it might not be ideal this is the only sort of shop on this boat and if he wants to get Serena an anniversary gift, then it has to come from her.

Lucky the shop is actually quite big. Probably because the boat is a big ship. While it has everything a Pokemon trainer could want, the problem is Serena doesn't actual know what she wants to do, there is nothing wrong with not knowing, but that doesn't make Ash's job any easier. There are all different sections in the shop ranging from trainer to coordinator to performer to water to connoisseur.

Well might as well start in the trainer section. Looking through the different items there are all different things for sale. From basic camping and travelling supplies to three different types of repel and as many different Pokeballs that anyone could think off.

"Excuse me, sir. Could I be off some assistance?" A female who works at the shop asked Ash.

She has seen this boy looking around for the last ten minutes and while she normally leaves customers to themselves unless they ask for help, she happens to know who Ash is thanks to her little brother. Who seems set on getting a Pikachu as his first Pokemon after watching the last Indigo League.

"Oh um, I am looking for a gift for my girlfriend." Ash replied rather embarrassed.

"I think I might have just the thing." The women smiled. "Just wait here and I'll be right back.".

The female shop assistant stood up and walked away into the back room. Ash couldn't help but feel nervous, not only does he feel horrible about leaving it so late before getting Serena a gift for their anniversary but if this item the shop assistant isn't right then he might not find one. It only took a couple of minutes before the girl returned and she present a pink Pokeball to Ash.

"Now this isn't a part of the shops stock, this is my own Pokeball." The girl explained. "It is called a Love Ball and works better on catching Pokemon of a different gender. I think this would suit your girlfriend perfected.".

"Oh um, thank you." Ash stuttered as he accepted the Pokeball. Looking at it, this does look like something which would suit Serena seeing as it is her favourite colour. Ash shrunk the Pokeball down and put it in his pocket before taking his wallet out. "How much do I owe you?".

"Seeing as it is mine, you don't need to pay for it." The girl smiled. "All I ask is for your autograph, my little brother loved watching you in the Indigo League. He even wants to start off with a Pikachu when he old enough.".

"Hehehe, sure. I'd be happy to." Ash replied sheepishly. He isn't used to this sort of treatment. The women handed Ash a pen and note pad and he wrote down a note to her brother. With his face bright red.

Now that he has a gift for Serena and not just some cheap tat from the gift shop, he has half the problem solved. Of course, anything they do will have to be on the boat seeing as they can't really get off it. Surely there has to be something aboard that they can do for their anniversary.

* * *

By the pool are the three girls and all there Pokemon. Serena's Seel is playing with Misty's Kingler and Vaporeon in the actual water with her Seadra deciding to take a swim in the sea along with Misty's Tentacruel. In the sun, Leaf's Venusaur; Flareon and Serena's Kangashkan are sunbathing. Misty has her new Poliwag in her hands, showing the female Tadpole a load of affection. It is actual an unusual sight to see Misty acting almost motherly, with her trusty Psyduck stood by her feet. Of course, she is a little concerned that her Shelder can't be spotted, considering his tendency to cause trouble for others. Leaf's Fearow is currently flying around the ship while her Clefable and Venomoth is playing with Serena's Eevee. Leaf's Slowbro is sat in the pool but seems oblivious to anything around him, almost like a certain duck Pokemon on Misty's team.

Serena is stood off by the railings, watching her Seadra with Delphox by her side and Kabuto in her hands. Serena quite upset at the moment and isn't sure what to do. While the girls met the boys for breakfast, Ash was unusually quiet and as soon as they finished eating he shot off. It doesn't help that they have their first-year anniversary together. While she knows in her heart that they are as close as ever, her head is playing tricks and making her think that maybe he is bored with her.

"You okay, Serena?" Leaf asked as she approached her best friend.

"Huh?" Serena questioned, slightly surprised by her friend's appearance. "Hey Leaf, what's up?". Leaf frowned when she heard her friend avoid the question and in a sad tone at that. She isn't even trying to hide the fact that she is upset and Leaf is going to find out why.

"I asked you first, Serena. Now spill." Leaf demanded an answer with her hands on her hips.

"Well... It's Ash." Serena sighed, not even trying to put up a fight. "Our first anniversary is tomorrow and it feels like he's avoiding me. He hardly spoke at breakfast and I haven't seen him since... What if he is starting to think that us aren't working as a couple.".

"Come on Serena, cheer up." Leaf replied. "We both know Ash, and we know he wouldn't even think about hurting you. I'm sure he has his reasons for acting this way.". While upbeat, Leaf was silently cursing her brother-like friend. Although she believes he does have his reasons, that doesn't make this right.

"Thanks Leaf." Serena managed to release a small grateful smile. "I really appreciate it but...". Leaf saw a certain raven-haired boy walking towards them, although he was still missing his signature hat, probably because of his Pig Monkey Pokemon. Leaf was quick to cut her sad friend off, and motioned her to turn around.

Serena did as Leaf motioned and gasped when she saw her boyfriend standing there. Delphox took the initiative and took Kabuto off Serena, walking away with Leaf they both wanted to give them some privacy. Ash frowned when he saw Serena upset and walked up to her, embracing her in a hug before either said any words.

Feeling him embrace her, Serena just melted into him. While he may have made her feel bad, this greeting is just what she needed to prove he wasn't doubting their relationship in any which way.

"Hey Serena... What's the matter?" Ash asked.

"Oh um, I was being silly." Serena replied. "I was just a little upset.".

"Upset about what?" Ash asked.

"At breakfast... You were so quite." Serena replied. "Then you left straight away, and I started to think... Never mind.". Serena decided that Ash didn't need to know what was going through her mind. Not to mention, she can't bring herself to say it out loud.

"Eheheh, sorry about that." Ash chuckled nervously. "The truth is, I was busy thinking.".

"Thinking about what?" Serena asked.

"Well... It's are anniversary and I wanted it to be special." Ash replied. "But we are stuck on this boat. I was thinking I could maybe plan something and have spent the morning trying to do just that. Unfortunately, it is too short notice for anything special we could've done together... I'm sorry.".

"You were trying to make our anniversary special?" Serena asked with tears in her eyes. Although these are tears of joy.

"Of course." Ash replied with his typical toothy grin. "I had a look at the ball room on the lowest deck and a posh restaurant but both are booked up until next week. All I was able to do was get you this.". Putting his hand in his pocket, he pulled out the love ball he acquired earlier.

"Ash..." Serena gasped. "What sort of Pokeball is this?".

"It's called a Love Ball and it supposed to work well on Pokemon who are an opposite gender to the one you're using." Ash explained as he handed it to her.

"This must've cost you a fortune." Serena replied as she marvelled at her gift.

"Not as much as you would think." Ash replied with a sweat drop on the back of his head. It didn't actually cost him anything, other than an autograph.

"I kind of feel bad now." Serena muttered as she finally left Ash's side to pick up her bag which was on the floor by where she was stood. "All I did was make you this...". Serena pulled out a new hat out of her bag, it was similar to his old hat currently on his Primeape's head but matched the green colouring of his new travelling clothes. Plus, instead of the league symbol this one had A.K. stitched into the front.

"Oh, wow Serena, this is great." Ash accepted the gift and quickly tried it on. It matched not only his current clothes but also fir perfectly. "Thank you, Serena. You're the best.". Serena allowed herself to melt into his hug once again as she dropped her new Love Ball into her bag before lazily dropping her bag off to the side.

"Oh Ash, I don't care what we do on our anniversary. Since we are on a journey, we can't always guarantee that we will be in a suitable location to do something romantic." Serena replied. "Just as long as I spend it with you, I am happy.". She ended her little speech by standing on her tip toes and kissed Ash fully on the lips.

Ash happily returned the gesture. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Serena wrapped her arms around his neck. The couple seemed oblivious to anything else around them as they deepened the kiss. As such, they failed to notice Pikachu walking towards them with Togepi in tow.

"Toge Toge?" Togepi questioned when he saw what his daddy and Serena were doing. Pikachu acted quickly and used his tail to cover the Spike ball Pokemon's eye before using his own hands to cover his eyes. Of course, that is what they would be doing when they show up.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	3. Meet & Greet

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the third part of the Orange Islands Arc. I remember having a poll up some time ago concerning which rivals of Ash's should make a cameo appearance. This is what I was referring too. All together six trainers will be competing in the Orange League. Obviously, Ash is taking one of those spots. Remember, all these trainers would've competed in one regional league (at least) but that doesn't mean they won it. Plus, Serena will discover a new rival in this part and there will be a hint at her next goal._**

 ** _Important notice, I am going on holiday in the middle of August. I will continue to update both my series until I leave, and it will be Monday to the following Friday. During that time, I won't be able to access this site. I hope to update both my stories the night before I leave. Once I return, updates should return to normal as well._**

 ** _Question time:_**

 ** _Darkness032:_**

 ** _Q) Is Brock leaving like in cannon? A) Yes, next chapter in fact but he will be back for Johto._**

 ** _Q) Is Ash still going to capture his Snorlax? A) Yes_**

 ** _Sylveon Love:_**

 ** _Q) Are you doing the second movie in this arc? A) Yes, it is probably my favourite Pokemon movie. Although not until near the end of the arc._**

 ** _Q) Are you going to introduce Tracey? A) No, he is my least favourite main character. He is being replaced by Drake who will actually do something._**

 ** _Remember to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 3: Meet & Greet_

Stood on the front of the boat is Ash Ketchum with his current team off: Pikachu; Pidgeot; Ivysaur; Wartortle; Gyarados; Primeape and of course, Togepi. They have been on this boat for the last two weeks and today is finally the day they reach Pummelo Island and he will be inducted into the upcoming Orange League.

"Okay guys, today is the day. I know it's been a long wait but we are finally going to arrive at Pummelo Island." Ash told his Pokemon. The six Pokemon who are lined up in front of him cheered. Well, Pikachu; Pidgeot; Ivysaur; Wartortle and Primeape are lined up on the deck and while also in line, Gyarados is in the water due to his size. This is actually the reason Brock left his Onix with his family, seeing as it could sink the boat because of his size.

"Toge Toge." Togepi cheered who is currently stood on his daddy's shoulder.

"I mean this for all of the guys back at the lab, but I just wanted to say thank you." Ash continued. "You are all the best Pokemon I could've asked for, same with everyone back at the lab. I couldn't have made it this far without each and every one of you.".

All the Pokemon cheered at Ash's words. In truth, he is the best trainer they could've asked for. For Pikachu, if he never met Ash then he likely still wouldn't trust human's, not to mention he wouldn't have met his angel. For Pidgeot, she would likely still be in the forest as the lone ranger without any friends and nowhere near her current strength. For Ivysaur, he would still be at the hidden village and not of experienced the world plus he too wouldn't have made it to his current level. For Charizard, he would be dead. For Wartortle, he would still be causing trouble with his Squirtle Squad, probably in some sort of prison. For Gyarados, he would still be a weak Magikarp probably serious injured if not worse. For Muk, he would still be the loner from the sewers. For Primeape, he would still be the punching bag of that other Primeape and probably serious injured. For Haunter, she would get to be the star of her own fic. For Sandslash... Would probably be in some serious trouble for attacking humans with no-one willing to give him a chance. For Tauros, he would be dead after Team Rocket invaded the Safari Zone. For Dragonair, she would be under control of that Team Rocket admin. Not to mention Team Rocket would still be causing trouble all over Kanto. Finally, Aerodactyl wouldn't have been restored.

"Hey Ash, look." Gyarados growled. The raven-haired boy was watching his cheering Pokemon with a smile but that also meant his back was facing the direction they were heading. Turning around to see what his affectionate water flying was looking at. Upon turning around, he could make out the outline of an island.

"Attention, passengers! We shall be arriving at Pummelo Island in fifteen minutes. We ask all guests who will be getting off to gather at the reception and to ensure you have all your belongings." The captain informed over the intercom.

"Awesome!" Ash exclaimed excited. "Okay guys, return for now.". All of his Pokemon nodded and let themselves be returned. Of course, Pikachu and Togepi were remaining outside and the three boys made their way to the reception.

Upon arriving, Ash found his friends waiting for him. Smiling, Ash walked towards them and as he closed in Serena greeted him with a hug. Of course, she was careful not to knock Togepi off Ash's shoulder which seems to be his preferred method of travelling for the time being.

"Hey guys." Ash greeted as he returned the gesture. "I can't wait to get induced and start collecting the gym badges.".

"Well I can't wait to start exploring the islands. From different people on this boat I've been told about such amazing things I could see, a Crystal Onix, an island of purely pink Pokemon..." Leaf exclaimed as she listed off the places she wants to visit.

"Well I can't wait to see what sort of water Pokemon are here. Not to mention spending more time with my little Poliwag." Misty interrupted as she hugged her Poliwag who was in her arms. Since catching the Tadpole Pokemon, she has hardly spent any time in her Pokeball although she doesn't have a problem with it unlike Pikachu. "Not to mention all the wonderful beaches, I really need to work on my tan.".

"Don't forget all the beautiful women on those beaches." Brock added dreamily as his face turned bright red. Although he quickly caught himself as he felt Rhyhorn's Pokeball wiggle.

Ash looked at the Pokemon breeder with confusing. Brock has often said he wants to just find the perfect girl for him and settle down but he has three perfect girls: Suzy; Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. Of course, back when he first met Brock, Ash couldn't understand his proposals (mostly because of his dense head) but even now that he is with Serena, he still can't understand them. Then again, there is still a lot about romance and all that stuff in general. Obviously, Ash and the others believe that Brock deserves to be happy but that won't happen if he can't stop his flirting.

"Um sure Brock." Drake replied with a sweat drop. "Along with men children and Pokemon, there will also be women on beaches.". He just can't understand what the big deal is about relationships like that. Then again, he is only starting to understand relationships as a whole. Of course, he hasn't got a problem with his brother or anyone else having partners but he just can't understand the point in them.

"Don't encourage him." Misty sighed. "If he keeps this up than he will get arrested.".

"Hehehe, Brock wouldn't mind." Leaf giggled. "After all, it would be Officer Jenny dragging his off.".

With that joke, everyone burst out laughing even Brock released a little giggle. He knows it is all in good fun, it is the same when they tease Ash about his denseness or Serena about how obvious she is, even before they got together or how they would tease Misty about her anger issues. Sure, they haven't really teased Leaf or Drake but that is mostly because they are still knew to the group, with time they will fit right in. Although Brock isn't happy about his flirty nature, he doesn't know where he got this particular habit from but it does making finding the perfect partner nearly impossible. In all honesty, half the people he hits on he isn't fully interested in, sure they look nice but because he hardly knows them he can't say he has any real feelings. In truth, the only people he can say he truly has feelings for are Suzy as she is what he wishes to become, Nurse Joy because of her caring nature and Officer Jenny because of her drive to bring justice to the world. Any one of them would be Brock's perfect partner.

* * *

After exiting off the boat and thanking Porter for the nice cruise, during the two-week cruise Porter has been a massive help for anything the group needed help with and they couldn't be more grateful.

The group is walking along the new island they have found themselves on and the first thing they have noticed is the heat. This is hotter than most summers in Kanto and the nice weather is accompanied by miles of beaches which are filled with all different people and Pokemon relaxing and having fun.

"Man, it's hot." Ash whipped his forehead. Although it only being a few minutes he is already sweating like a Grumpig. Taking his jacket off and tying it around his waist he noticed he had become a victim of pit stains on his black undershirt. "Aww man.".

"Abandoned ship!" Pikachu shouted as he jumped from Ash's shoulder onto Serena's. While Serena doesn't mind having Pikachu ride on her shoulder, she isn't used to it and the mouse is heavier then he looks which caused her to stumble slightly. Ash looked around and noticed everyone other than Togepi had took a step away.

"I told you Ash, you should wear a vest like I am." Brock told the raven-haired boy.

"I'll put some deodorant on when we get to the Pokemon Centre." Ash replied.

"Maybe I should hold onto Togepi until then." Brock suggested seeing as Serena already had Pikachu and he was the only one left in the group that Togepi didn't mind being held by.

Togepi looked at the breeder with a bright smile, while he likes the squinty eyed man he also wants to help his daddy out with his problem. As Brock took the young fairy type, the Spike Ball started to wiggle his hands back and for.

"Toge!" Togepi exclaimed as his arms came to a stop. Suddenly, a small black cloud appeared over Ash's head before it started to rain on him. Looking at it, it looks like something out of a cartoon.

"What the...?" Ash questioned.

"This is just not your day." Leaf commented trying not to laugh.

"It looks like a Rain Dance." Misty commented.

"Or like a prank Haunter would pull." Serena added.

"But the only Pokemon I know with Rain Dance is Dragonair." Ash replied. "And both Dragonair and Haunter are at the lab.".

"Maybe it was Togepi." Drake suggested.

"Togepi!?" Everyone exclaimed before turning to the little fairy type in Brock's hands.

"Toge-Priii!" Togepi cheered happily.

"Can Togepi even learn Rain Dance?" Leaf asked.

"While it is possible." Brock mused. "It takes a lot of special training for none water types to learn it, even if Dragonair was helping him I don't think he is oldest enough or have enough experience.".

"Your right Brock." Drake replied. "But I didn't mean he use Rain Dance. A lot of fairy types like Togepi and Clefairy can use a move called metronome. Since Togepi likes Ash so much I bet he was just trying to help him out by using that move which resulted in Rain Dance... Besides, considering Togepi's young age it would make sense that the cloud would only be big enough to cover Ash while Dragonair covered the entire Indigo Stadium remember.".

After turning to Drake while he made his explanation they turned back to Togepi who was doing many little cheers. He is really happy that he was able to help his daddy out with his problem.

"Togepi... Did you do this?" Ash asked.

"Dada." Togepi cried happily.

"Does that mean you're ready to start training?" Ash asked.

"Hold on Ash, Togepi is still quite young. Little over a year old." Brock interrupted.

"Remember, dad said only Togepi will know when he is ready to start training." Drake added. "And first he needs to start speaking properly. You've said he has only been saying that one word so far.".

"Right..." Ash sighed. He was really looking forward to training Togepi, who knows maybe he could've use him in one of the Orange League gyms. Of course, he can't do that until Togepi is ready so the chances are that Togepi won't be ready in time for the Orange League, especially since all the trainers competing have already competed in at least one regional league already.

"What's that one word he's been saying Ash?" Serena asked. Ash blushed in response as Drake let out a light chuckle and smirk. Drake is the only person other than Red who knows Togepi's one word and really doesn't need any more embarrassment right now.

"Um... Never mind, let's go and find the Pokemon centre." Ash sweat dropped as he started walking down the path with the rain cloud still over his head. The others followed shortly behind while everyone other than Drake was more interested in Togepi's first word.

* * *

It didn't take long for the group to reach the Pokemon Centre, around fifteen minutes but in that time the rain cloud had disappeared and the intense heat had mostly dried Ash once inside, Ash went straight to change since he didn't like the idea of walking around in those clothes after what happened. He knew change of clothes looked identical to his previous ones.

Drake also quickly exchanged his Pinsir for Snorlax since the bug type was battle hungry after the two-week cruise and because of Ash's induction wouldn't get in any training or a battle until tonight at the earliest. Serena also exchanged Delphox for Tangela since her starter has been missing her boyfriend. It was at this point that she realised she has always had Delphox in her team and it probably wasn't fair on her other Pokemon that she wasn't in rotation as well. Especially since she also tends to keep Eevee with her because of Pikachu.

While he changed, the rest of the group asked Nurse Joy for some directions to Pummelo stadium. Once reuniting with the rest of the group, Ash and the others left the Pokemon Centre and would've walked straight off to the stadium when a Pokemon battle from around the back of the centre drew their attention. Going to see what was happening, they found a boy around Ash's age stood back to back with a Blastoise, while a Machamp was on the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"Thanks, Machamp, good job." The other trainer returned the fallen fighting type. "Boy, oh boy. Your battle style is a first for me.".

"We love to dance, we just keep on moving and grooving." The boy with the Blastoise replied as he and his water type did a little dance in sync, ending with a fist bump.

Ash smiled when he saw the pair, the way they move in sync really showed off their bond. The boy has short black hair and his t-shirt has the image of some sort of ice cream-Pokemon hybrid. With his mind made up, Ash ran up to him.

"Hey, can I battle with you next?" Ash asked as he stopped in front of them.

"Alright, sounds great." The boy replied. "I'm Tierno and I'm from Santalune City in the Kalos region. And with my best bud Blastoise we are going to win the Orange League.".

"So, your competing in the Orange League too?" Ash asked. "Well I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and along with all my Pokemon we are going to win the Orange League.".

"I guess that makes us rivals then." Tierno smirked as the rest of the group walked up behind Ash.

"Ash, we don't have time for a battle right now." Serena told her boyfriend.

"Wait, I know you." Tierno muttered as he eyed Serena.

"Huh, wait you do?" Serena replied perplexed.

"Yeah..." Tierno replied. "Stay here.". Before anyone could reply he had ran off with Blastoise leaving little more than a cloud of dust.

"Now what?" Ash asked equally perplexed as Serena.

A moment later Tierno returned with a girl in tow. This girl is about Serena's height with brown hair in two pigtails. Blue short shorts and a pink top with tanned skin and a Bulbasaur by her feet.

"Look, check it out. She looks the same." Tierno told the new girl he just fetched.

"It's you. This is great." The girl happily spoke as she stepped closer to Serena. "Your Serena.".

"But... How could you know my name?" Serena asked really creeped out.

"Because I saw you compete in Kanto's Battle Chateau." The girl replied.

"Wait... Does that mean you're from Kanto?" Ash asked.

"Oh no, since Kalos is the origins of the battle chateau all of Kanto's chateau's get broad casted over there on TV." The girl explained. "I'm Shauna, nice to meet you.".

"Shauna... Thank you." Serena replied easing up a little. Turns out she doesn't have stalkers and they just watched her compete in the Chateau.

"You and your Pokemon were so elegant in the chateau that I've been a fan ever since I first saw it." Shauna explained.

"Oh, thank you." Serena blushed not use to all the praise. She didn't even know she had a fan. Oh right, she should probably introduce the others. "Oh right. Shauna, Tierno, this is my boyfriend Ash. His brother Drake and our friends Leaf; Misty and Brock.".

"Hey." Drake replied and put his hand up.

"Nice to meet you." Leaf jumped forward.

"Hello." Misty also greeted with a friendly wave.

"It's a pleasure." Brock offered his hand which Shauna shook.

"N-no way..." Tierno muttered as he curled up against the wall of the Pokemon Centre with his Blastoise patting his back.

"Um, is Tierno alright?" Serena asked.

"You said Ash was boyfriend, right?" Shauna asked. Serena nodded in response. "Well... Tierno sort of developed a little crush on you after you became a Grand Duchess. I told him he shouldn't get his hopes up but...".

"Oh..." Serena sweat dropped. Even if she wasn't with Ash or even have her crush on him, she still wouldn't be interested in Tierno. Obviously, he seems like a nice guy and if he is competing in the Orange League than he must be one but she doesn't even know him so she couldn't return his feelings.

"Hehehe, look Brock. You're not the only one who gets rejected." Leaf laughed only to realise Brock was no long stood beside her. Looking around she found the Pokemon breeder stood behind Tierno.

"Man up, Tierno. You can't let this one defeat get you down." Brock encouraged. "Just because you failed this time means you get right back up and find the perfect girl for you.". Tierno listened to Brock's words before jumping back to his feet with a determined look in his eyes.

"Right Brock. Not only will I win the Orange League but find the perfect girlfriend while I'm at it." Tierno declared.

"Wow, Brock sure got Tierno over that quickly." Shauna was shocked. "Normally, Tierno only gets over rejection when he sees another girl he likes.".

"Eheheh, well if anyone knows how to get over rejection. It's Brock." Misty nervously chuckled.

"No need to remind me." Brock slumped over like Tierno was before. This caused the others to sweat drop.

"Is he alright?" Shauna asked with a sweat drop as Tierno started to comfort the Pokemon breeder. While they may have only just met, they have found a sort of kin ship since it appears that they share similar experiences of love and heartbreak.

"He's fine." Misty replied as she stepped in between Shauna and Brock with a cheesy smile, trying not to scare this girl with Brock's behaviour. She swiftly turned around. "Get over yourself, Brock!". Shauna sweat dropped not sure how to respond to the angry orange-haired girl.

"Hey Shauna, what Pokemon do you have?" Serena asked.

"I'll show you. Come on out, guys." Shauna replied as she threw two Pokeballs into the air with a little twirl. Opening up and with two flashes of light revealed two Pokemon, the was familiar as Ash has his own. An Ivysaur. The second was also easy to recognise as both Janine and Koga used it back at Fuchsia City. A Venomoth.

"An Ivysaur and Venomoth." Leaf squealed in excitement as she started examining the two-part poison types. Of course, she already has data on both in her Pokedex but these two are exciting her so much because of their appearance. While clearly healthy, they also have a clear sign of beauty which isn't normal for poison types.

"Wow Shauna, both Ivysaur and Venomoth look great." Serena commented as Venomoth floated in front of her with a hint of grace. "Did you participate in the Kalos branch of battle Chateau's?".

"No actually, I participated in performances." Shauna explained. "I was hoping to become Kalos Queen but a lot in the final to an old girl who took the title.".

"Performances?" Serena questioned. "I've never heard of them.".

"I'm not too surprised." Shauna replied. "They are currently only held in Kalos but Aria told me she plans to move them to other regions over the next year. It is a female only competition where a performer and her Pokemon work in sync through two rounds. The first is a themed performance which can be on any sort of topic while the second is a free-style performance where the audience vote for the winner.".

"So, is that what you're going to do here, Shauna?" Misty asked. She failed to notice the bug poison type float up to her and notice the slightest movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning to look at the movement, she was scared with what she found. "GET AWAY FROM ME!".

She lashed her arms around as she jumped behind Ash, who sweat dropped at his friend's phobia of bug types. Lucky Venomoth proved to have good reflexes and swiftly moved out of Misty's way so she couldn't hit the poison moth Pokemon.

"Um..." Shauna sweat dropped.

"Sorry about that Shauna." Serena apologised. "Misty... Has a fear of bug type Pokemon.".

"Don't worry about it, Venomoth didn't get hurt." Shauna replied. "And as for the question, no. I am here to compete in Pokemon contests.".

"Pokemon Contests?" Serena questioned. She can remember being told about Pokemon contests by the chateau owners and while she hasn't properly looked into it, seeing a quick contest on TV during the time when Ash was training for the Indigo League, had the honey blonde girl intrigued to say the least. "But I thought you said you wanted to become Kalos Queen.".

"I do, but after our final match Aria gave me some advice." Shauna replied. "Ya see, she told me that she first started performing when she was my age. After she lost in her first master class, she was sent to compete in contest for more experience. She suggested I do the same thing than when I'm ready, go back and try again for the title.".

"Pokemon contests, huh." Ash replied. "Hey Serena, isn't that the thing the chateau owners told you about?".

"Yeah Ash..." Serena replied as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"So, your competing in Orange Island contests too?" Shauna asked excited.

"Well, I honestly don't know what I want to do." Serena replied. "The truth is, I discovered the battle chateau early on into our journey and before that I didn't know what I wanted to do. Now that I've beat it, I am back to not knowing what I want to do. I've heard of contests and they look interesting but I just don't know enough about them.".

"Don't worry Serena, I am sure you will find something." Shauna encouraged. "But your right about contests, they are a lot of fun. Hey, I know!".

"What Shauna?" Ash and Serena asked in unison.

"Why don't you come and watch one of my contests at some point?" Shauna suggested. "I already have three ribbons and will be taking a short break to work on new combinations while the boys collect a couple of badges but I am sure you could make it. Besides the Grand Festival takes place a week before the orange league here at Pummelo stadium.".

"Wow Shauna, it would be great to watch a contest or grand festival in person." Serena replied. "Thanks.".

"Don't mention it." Shauna smiled.

"Boys?" Ash questioned. Before he could elaborate the group heard a loud roar from the sky. Looking towards the source, they found a familiar looking silhouette flying towards them.

While they may not know this Pokemon in particular, it is familiar because both Ash and Drake have one. Speaking off, Ash had his hand on Gyarados' Pokeball while Drake had his hand on Snorlax's Pokeball both ready to battle in case this in coming isn't as friendly, which may be possible considering that roar. Soon the Pokemon landed in front of the group and was revealed to be a Charizard. The surprising thing was the short, orange big haired boy on the Flame Pokemon's back.

"Trevor, what happened?" Shauna asked as she ran to the boy's side as he fell off the fire flying type.

"Urg, I was feeding Charizard when a Pidgey came and stole some food." Trevor explained weakly. "I tried to calm him down but he took off, after the Pidgey with me on his back. Once he knocked Pidgey out we flew here to find you guys.".

Said Charizard looked at the group, in particular two boys who look the same and with their Pokeballs ready to release there Pokemon for battle. The fire flying type looked at sheepishly and sweat dropped. Guess he has a little energy to burn. Seeing as the Flame Pokemon isn't going to attack, the brothers relaxed.

"Hey, Trevor, is it?" Ash asked as he and Serena approached him. Trevor was shaky but on his feet.

"Yeah. Hey, um. Who are you?" Trevor asked not yet having looked at the boy who has addressed him.

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." Ash introduced himself. "This is my partners Pikachu, and Togepi. And this is...". Ash was cut off by Trevor who finally looked up and recognised the girl stood by Ash's side, although he failed to notice the holding hands and Serena had to move off Ash's shoulder when they walked over.

"Oh wow, it's really you." Trevor marvelled at Serena. The honey-blonde girl sweat dropped seeing that she has another fan who happens to male. Never in her life did she think this would happen. Probably because the only guys she has known whilst growing up are: Ash; Drake and Gary. While Ash and Gary were clearly dense when it came to the opposite gender prior to the start of their journey and Drake just didn't socialise. "Your Serena... Your even prettier in person.".

"Oh, um. Thank you." Serena nervously chuckled as she felt Ash tighten his hand which was interlocked with her own. She smiled and stepped closer towards Ash, kind of happy that he was reacting this way, it may sound weird but seeing him jealous is just another way to show he likes her.

"Cut it out Trevor, your scaring her." Shauna scolded. Trevor looked back at his female friend with a sort of questioning look. Shauna sighed at her friend's cluelessness and point back to the couple. Turning back to Serena, he noticed the interlocked hands and angry looking boy who was holding Serena's hand. He sweat dropped and realised this boy must be her boyfriend and not happy about how he just greeted Serena. Trevor turned bright red and quickly bowed an apology.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean anything by it, it's just that I can remember seeing Serena battle and all her Pokemon looked so strong." Trevor hastily apologised. "I really didn't mean anything, honest.".

"It's okay." Serena replied as she and Trevor looked to Ash. Trevor took a step back at the hard glare from the taller boy. Although he is eleven, Trevor is quite short for his age. Serena was slightly concerned that Ash would get Aerodactyl to eat Trevor or maybe have his aura tear him apart. Eventually, Ash closed his eyes and let out a small smile. Although he isn't happy with the way Trevor spoke, it doesn't matter what Trevor said because Serena was his girlfriend.

"Yeah Trevor, it's okay." Ash added. Drake smirked from behind the display, looks like his brother is jealous. Part of him is glad it wasn't Serena who was the jealous one, or that could cause not just Ash but the whole travelling group trouble. Through all of his studying he came across one phrase which he kept to heart, ' _May Arceus have no furry, like a woman's wrath_ '. Then again, it would probably be worst if Leaf ended up like that, after all she is scary enough when happy.

"Hiya, I'm Leaf." Leaf jumped forward. "And I am travelling to complete the Pokedex.".

"Oh, hi Leaf." Trevor replied stepping back from the hyper active girl. "I'm Trevor and I want to take a Photo of every Pokemon in existence.".

"Not only that but Trevor is competing in the Orange League with you and Tierno, Ash." Shauna added. "He got accepted because of his secret weapon he pulled out at the Kalos league.".

"Hehehe, I might've lost in the first round but it was to the guy who won the whole tournament." Trevor replied. "Hey Ash, if you're also competing then which Pokemon bond got you in?".

"According to my letter it was thanks to my Gyarados and... His shows of affection." Ash replied as a sweat drop formed on the back of his head. "Of course, it also said because of my bond with my other Pokemon.".

"You have an affectionate Gyarados?" Shauna asked in a tone which showed she didn't really believe what she was hearing.

"Oh yeah, Ash's Gyarados is the most affectionate Pokemon I've ever seen." Leaf jumped in. "Well, along with his Muk. Every time he sends Gyarados out, it doesn't matter if it is for a battle or not. He goes and greets Ash with an affectionate lick.".

"Oh wow, I've got to take a picture of that." Trevor exclaimed with stars in his eyes. Ash smiled and un clipped his Pokeball.

"Come on out and say hi, Gyarados!" Ash shouted as he threw the Pokeball in the air. With a powerful roar, the sea serpent appeared in front of the entire group.

After letting out its battle cry, Gyarados turned to see a Charizard and Blastoise looking at both excited at the chance to battle such a powerful opponent. However, Gyarados has one thing to do first. Turning around to his trainer, the water flying type dived down on Ash while Serena barely moved out of the way in time.

"Hahahahahahaha, stop it Gyarados." Ash laughed as Gyarados attacked with an affectionate lick. "That tickles.". Gyarados continued his typical show of affection for a couple more minutes.

"Wow... He really has an affectionate Gyarados." Shauna mumbled.

"I've got to get a picture of this." Trevor exclaimed as he pulled out his camera and started taking photos of Gyarados showing his affection for his trainer. After a while, Gyarados finally let up and Ash managed to stand up.

"So, what's up Ash?" Gyarados asked casually.

"Oh, nothing much Gyarados." Ash replied with his signature toothy grin. "My new friends just wanted to meet you and say hi.". Gyarados turned around to see the three trainers who all looked nervous. Shauna's two Pokemon were hiding behind her legs while the Blastoise and Charizard had a look which said they want to battle.

"You want to battle, Blastoise?" Tierno questioned.

"And you, Charizard?" Trevor asked.

The two pokemon nodded and entered a battle stance. Gyarados let out a powerful roar and also entered a battle stance. He tried to intimidate the two Pokemon which would've work had they not seen that show of affection. It really takes away from his intimidation.

"Alright!" Ash cheered as he moved behind his water flying type.

"As nice as a battle would be, Ash. We need to get going or you're going to miss the induction for the Orange League, then you won't be able to compete." Drake explained.

"Your right!" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah, we need to get going as well." Shauna told her male friends. Who too nodded in agreement before returning their starter Pokemon.

Ash put Gyarados' Pokeball on his belt after returning the atrocious Pokemon and everyone else prepared to go. Shauna, Trevor and Tierno joined the group to Pummelo stadium as the two boys were also being induced. Well, with three of the competitors here all they needed were the other three. Walking through the island paradise, the group closed in on the home of the Orange League competition.

* * *

Running down the streets of Pummelo Island is a sight not likely to be seen. It is a boy around fifteen with a sort of red ranger suit on and medium length blond hair, sat on the boy's shoulder is an Eevee. Despite running, the evolution Pokemon is having no difficulty trying to stay on the boy's shoulder showing that the normal type clearly has experience with this sort of thing.

As they continued running down the street to the stadium on the island. They spotted a large group up front, who also seem to be in a big rush. A quick count revealed that there are four females in the group and five males. Along with what looks like a Pikachu on one of the male's shoulder.

It soon became apparent that they were running towards the same location as they turned off the main path to head up a hill which only lead to the stadium, stepping it up a gear, the trainer of the Eevee didn't want to get stuck behind nine people in a cue as he needs to be induced. Of course, maybe one of them is also competing but he can't know that for sure.

The Eevee and his trainer was able to catch up to the large group as they all ran into the stadium building. The group and the trainer reached the front desk to see an old looking man in a green vest with white undershirt.

"May I help you?" The man asked kindly.

"We came to be induced for the Orange League." Ash; Tierno; Trevor and the Eevee trainer all stated at once. The trio looked towards the new arrival who was also looking back.

"Very well." The old man replied. "Please form a line as I can only do one at a time. Could the rest of you please stand off to the side, friends of the competitors are allowed to watch the induction from the spectator's box so no need for you to wait in line.".

Everyone agreed, Ash; Tierno and Trevor lined up behind the Eevee trainer and took it one at a time to registrar while the others stood off to the side. Once all four of them were registered the trainer with the Eevee ended up joining the group.

"Hey there, nice to meet you." The trainer greeted. "My names Virgil and this is my partner, Eevee.".

"Hello, nice to meet everyone." Eevee cheered in an excited tone, clearly still a young Pokemon.

"My names Ash." Ash greeted as he shook Tyson's hand. "And it's nice to meet you too, Eevee.".

"Huh?" Virgil questioned with a raised eye brow.

"Your Eevee, he said 'Hello, nice to meet everyone'." Ash explained. "So, I was just saying it is nice to meet him as well.".

"YOU UNDERSTOOD ME!" Eevee exclaimed.

"YOU UNDERSTOOD EEVEE!" Virgil exclaimed at the same time.

"YOU CAN UNDERSTAND POKEMON!?" Shauna; Tierno and Trevor exclaimed all at once.

"Um, yeah." Ash answered with a sweat drop. "It's a long story.".

The group agreed and went to the cafeteria to wait for the other two trainers being inducted and to grab a bite to eat. Once there and once everyone had their food, they got down to business and Ash explained that he could understand nearly every Pokemon. With the only acceptations being Togepi who is still too young to properly speak and Misty's Psyduck. He also failed to mention that he could understand them because of his aura abilities and just said he didn't know how he could do that. Soon, the four boys competing in the Orange League were called while the rest of the group was taken to the spectator's box to watch the ceremony.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Pummelo Stadium, home of the Orange League." An announcer spoke through the microphone. Although being a small stadium, smaller than the Indigo Stadium, could still hold near to three-thousand people. "If you look towards the field, you will see this year's six competitors as they enter the field.".

The crowd cheered as the first person to enter the field was Virgil with his Eevee on his shoulder.

"Going from the oldest. First, we have Virgil from Floccesy Town, which is in the Unova region." The announcer informed. "This young man is armed with a squad consisting of an Eevee and its evolved forms. Being selected for this tournament because of the teamwork displayed during the Unova where they reached the top eight.".

The crowd cheered louder as Virgil and Eevee waved towards them. Soon the crowd quietened down as the next trainer walked out, he was a man who looked around the same age as Virgil with brown hair and just a t-shirt; cargo shorts and sneakers on.

"Next is Harrison from Littleroot Town, which is in the Hoenn region." The announcer informed. "This young man has competed in the most leagues out of this year's competitors, but it was his performance in the Hoenn League where he showed true care for his Pokemon, although he made it to the top four.".

Like Virgil, Harrison smiled and waved at the crowd who cheered for the new competitor. Once done, Harrison approached Virgil and the two trainers introduced themselves. As the crowd quietened down, Tierno was making his way onto the field with a little dance.

"Next is Tierno from Santalune City, which is in the Kalos Region." The announcer informed. "This young man may have only made it to the top 64 in his first league but was selected to compete because of the synchronisation he showed by both battling and dancing with each of his Pokemon.".

Tierno put on a dance show once in full view of the crowd which caused them to cheer, although only as much as it was for Virgil and Harrison. When Tierno finished up his dance, he approached the other two trainers and introduced himself with Harrison since he already met Virgil. Soon, Ash was walking out on to the field with Pikachu and Togepi.

"Next is Ash from Pallet Town, which is in the Kanto Region." The announcer informed. "While making it to an impressive top 4 placement for his first league, Ash was offered the chance to compete for the bond he displayed with all his Pokemon, most notably his overly affectionate Gyarados.".

While the crowd cheered for Ash as the raven-haired boy waved to the crowd along with Pikachu and Togepi. Looking closely showed that not everyone believed that he truly had a Gyarados who would show any sort of affection. Ash soon went over to the group and introduced himself to Harrison. Trevor nervously walked out next.

"Next is Trevor from Lumioso City, which is in the Kalos Region. The same region Tierno is from." The announcer informed. "This young man was offered the chance to compete because of a special bond he showed through a research project based in Kalos which requires a special bond to be successful.".

Trevor was timid but made his way out and shyly waved to the crowd before making his way over to the other competitors where he introduced himself to Harrison while the final competitor walked out. A young boy in a cap, red jacket and blue shorts who also seemed a little over whelmed by the crowd.

"Finally, we have Alvin from Celadon City, which is in the Kanto Region. The same region as Ash." The announcer informed. "Although he lost in the first round of the Indigo League, to Ash's brother no-less, he was invited as he showed his care for his Pokemon by forfeiting before allowing his Pokemon to get hurt in a losing battle.".

The crowd cheered and made his way over to the group where he introduced himself to everyone. While he was intimidated by the presents of the brother of the boy who quite frankly destroyed him in battle. Ash was quick to make him feel welcome.

In the spectator's box, everyone was looking at Drake who had a sweat drop form on the back of his head. "You beat him?" Shauna asked referring to the youngest of the trainers on the field.

"Hehehe, yeah." Drake nervously chuckled. "If I remember right, I used my Pinsir to beat both his Butterfree and Cubone. Then returned him for Starmie since I predicted he would go with Rapidash. In the end, he forfeited before sending out his final Pokemon. Saying none of his Pokemon could beat three of mine on its own.". Before anyone could reply, the announcer spoke again.

"Now ladies; gentleman and Pokemon of all species. I present to you the Orange League Champion." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered the loudest yet as all six competitors looked towards the other entrance from the locker room where they assume he will show up from. "Drake Yūji!".

"Grrrraaaaaawwwww!" A loud roar sounded from above the stadium. Looking towards the source they found a flying Pokemon entering the field. While not everyone on the field new the Pokemon, Ash most certainly new what it was... It was a Dragonite.

Landing on the field, a trainer in his mid to late twenties jumped off. The man was quite muscular with spiky black hair; a sleeveless black vest with a red leather jacket; and black jeans. He stood next to his dragon and to be very honest looked very intimidating.

"Drake Yūji has been the Orange League champion for the last ten years." The announcer informed. "In those years, many great trainers have challenged the league and Drake. But not one has success, meaning Drake is undefeated which is a true testament to his strength.". Drake smiled and approached the six trainers, waiting a couple of minutes for the cheers from the crowd to settle down.

"Greetings, everyone." Drake addressed the six trainers in front of him. "Just the fact that you are standing here proves you all to be great trainers who know the proper way to treat all Pokemon. Unfortunately, only one of you shall face me in battle. That battle will take place three months from today.".

" _Three months... That's not long at all_." Ash thought in shock.

"To be the one who faces me in that battle, you need to travel around the beautiful islands of the Orange Archipelago and collect four badges." Drake explained. "Just be warned, my gym leaders are much tougher than your typical gym leaders and the only way to successed will be together with your Pokemon. Once you have collected the four badges, return to this stadium where everyone who has collected them shall compete in a knock out tournament until only one remains, who will face me in a full battle.".

Ash just stared at the Orange League champion with a flame of determination behind. While it certainly won't be easy he has a great bond with nearly all of his Pokemon, and he is confident that it won't be long before he can help Sandslash open up. Little did Ash know, Drake smiled inwardly at the fire behind his eyes.

"I want to make this clear, this league is not about who is the strongest." Drake continued. "The only way to make your way through is by becoming one with your Pokemon and by using a strong bond to its fullest potential. I hereby declare that this year's Orange League, has begun!".

Drake smiled and climbed on his Dragonite's back as the crowd cheered. Took one last look at the group of six trainers. Each year it is the same, six trainers; two of them try but don't collect all six badges; not because they are bad trainers but just because it is a demanding task and out of all of the group he can easily spot the one who he will be having a battle with. Maybe it comes with ten years as the Orange League Champion but for the last seven years he has been able to spot the trainer he will end up battling and this time is exactly the same.

With a mighty flap of the wings, Dragonite took off again as the crowd roared for the orange league champion. The six trainers and two Pokemon on the field looked on in awe as the mighty dragon disappeared out of sight. With the induction over, the six trainers made their way back the way they came from.

* * *

In the spectators box the group was getting ready to also leave to meet up with the boys when a thought crossed Serena's mind. She turned to look at Shauna who smiled at her new friend.

"Hey Shauna, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Serena asked.

"Sure Serena." Shauna smiled.

"If you; Trevor and Tierno are from Kalos. Then why do you have the Kanto starters?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, how come Shauna. I would've loved to add some Kalos Pokemon to my Pokedex." Leaf added.

"Hehehe, it's because we were offered the Kanto starters by our regional professor." Shauna replied. "Ya see, even though we're from different hometowns. The three of us all started our journey at the same time. When we went to our Professor he offered us the Kanto starters as he needed to get them to their final forms for his research project. Plus, he really only had two of the Kalos starters ready to take since the third one was difficult and had abandoned three previous trainers.".

"No kidding, a start abandoned its trainer?" Leaf asked shocked.

"It wasn't a Froakie by any chance, was it?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Shauna replied with a question of her own.

"I have a frien-rival from Kalos, who told us that her starter was a Froakie who abandond her after she told it that she wasn't a very big battler." Serena explained.

She was going to call Miette a friend but after all that teasing she did since, they first met. Can she really consider her a friend? After all, both Leaf and Misty teased her about her crush on Ash but none of them threatened to steel him away. Of course, now she knows it was only to encourage Serena to confess but is that really what friends do to help each other? Never mind, she can worry about Miette later. Since she is dating Serena's cousin, chances are they will meet again.

"Come on guys, the others are probably waiting for us." Drake said in an inpatient tone.

Truth is, he isn't the most comfortable around people and will prefer it when Ash is back in the group as he is the one that keeps everything together. While Serena; Misty and Brock are fine, he just hasn't clicked with them and Leaf... She is the most terrifying thing Drake has ever in countered. Unlike when Team Rocket kidnapped him, he is actually scared when she is around. The new girl seems alright but he hasn't really spoke to her.

The others agreed as looking out of the window showed people in the stands getting up to leave. With the induction over, the group made their way back through the stadium to find their friends.

* * *

Once in the lobby of the stadium, Virgil apologised but took off to call his father and brother, as he promised to let them know when he arrived. Looking around, it also appeared that Alvin also disappeared without a word. He is quite the timid boy.

"So Ash, you're from Pallet Town?" Harrison started the conversation.

"Right, I've only participated in the Indigo League though." Ash explained. "I never imagined that I would be invited to challenge the Orange League, not to mention after only competing in one league.".

"Well any trainer who can tame a Gyarados to the point of being openly affectionate deserves to be here." Harrison replied.

"You've seen my Gyarados?" Ash asked.

"Well the announcers said that was why you got in." Harrison replied. "But to be honest, my regional Professor who gave me my starter showed the battle against your brother after the Indigo League ended. He studies Pokemon in their natural habitat, and commented that the difference between your Gyarados and a wild one would be interesting to say the least.".

"Hehehe, yeah." Ash nervously chuckled. "Professor Oak has had ago at trying to find out why Gyarados acts that way. In the end, I just asked Gyarados and he said it was to show his appreciation after how we met.".

"You asked your Gyarados?" Harrison asked with a tone which showed he didn't fully believe the Pallet native.

"Yeah, hehehe. You see, I can understand Pokemon speech." Ash explained with a nervous chuckle. Although he made sure to leave out the aura part. "I don't know how, but I've always been able to.".

"That's a little hard to believe Ash." Harrison replied.

"Yeah Ash, there are a lot of con artists who claim the same thing." Tierno added.

"How about I prove it to you guys?" Ash asked.

"How?" Tierno asked.

"You guys tell Pikachu something, anything. He tells me and then I tell you." Ash explained. "I would only know what was said if Pikachu tells me the right thing.".

"Okay then, come here Pikachu." Tierno told the electric type who jumped off Ash's shoulder and over to the dancer. Tierno kneeled down and whispered something into Pikachu's ear. Standing up, Pikachu raised an eye brow at the big guy before running back up Ash on to his shoulder.

"What did he say Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"He said you are lucky to have Serena and you should watch out before someone tries to whisk her away." Pikachu repeated. A smirked formed on the electric types face as Ash blushed heavily.

"So, what did Pikachu say?" Harrison asked. Instead of answering the older boys question, Ash's blush faded and he smirked as he looked at Tierno.

"Your right Tierno, I am lucky to have Serena." Ash replied. "You can try to, what was it? Whisk her away. But I seriously doubt you will be able to.".

"Huh, guess you really can understand Pokemon." Tierno humphed.

"Um, who is Serena?" Harrison asked.

"Serena is my girlfriend." Ash answered. He suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around his body from behind as a head nuzzled into his neck. The scent coming off the person along with the golden hair out of the corner of his eye told Ash exactly who it was.

"And don't you forget it." Serena whispered in her boyfriend's ear. The rest of the group approached, as Serena pecked his check before moving to his side and wrapping her arms around Ash's arm and resting her head on his shoulder. Brock took the initiative and approached Harrison.

"Nice to meet you, Harrison, right?" Brock asked as he offered his hand which Harrison accepted and shook. "I'm Brock.".

"Nice to meet you, Brock." Harrison greeted as the handshake ended.

"I'm Leaf." Leaf jumped forward with Drake in tow. "And this is Drake.".

"Hey." Drake replied as he desperately tried to part his hand from Leaf's who had somehow interlock their hands together. Harrison couldn't help but sweat drop as he watched the nervous boy who is clearly uncomfortable.

"Good to meet you." Harrison replied deciding not to ask any questioned to do with their relationship, whatever it may be.

"Hiya Harrison, I'm Misty." Misty introduced herself. Harrison offered his hand to the water type trainer who gladly returned the handshake.

"Hello to you too, Misty." Harrison replied.

"And I'm Shauna." Shauna jumped forward.

"Hello as well, Shauna." Harrison replied and shook Shauna's hand. "I hate to leave after just meeting but I need to go and collect my Pokemon from Nurse Joy. I left them for a check-up while I was induced.". Harrison waved bye as he walked out.

"We should get going too, according to the guild book we can catch a boat from Pummelo to Valencia Island from the southern port and it is only a two-hour journey but we don't have long before the final boat leaves for today.".

"Wait? Valencia Island." Shauna interrupted. "Why would you be going to that island?".

"Yeah, I don't think there is a gym on that island." Tierno added.

"No, the only thing of note on that island is the Pokemon research lab." Trevor explained.

"That's why we're going there." Ash replied. "Other than competing in the Orange League, Professor Oak asked us to come to collect something from his colleague who works at that lab.".

"Then I guess this is where we part ways." Shauna replied as she looked at Serena. "Remember Serena, keep in touch. You still want to watch a Pokemon contest after all.".

"Right." Serena replied.

"Uh, stay in touch?" Ash asked.

"When you were being induced me and Shauna exchanged Pokegear numbers, Ash." Serena explained. "We can speak whenever and plan to meet up so I can watch one of her contests to see if I would be interested.".

"I still think you should compete." Shauna replied.

"Maybe I will one day, Shauna." Serena laughed. "But I made the mistake of rushing in when I was unprepared before and that ended in a disaster.".

"Okay than, if you're sure." Shauna replied.

Soon the group of: Ash; Serena; Misty; Brock; Drake and Leaf was walking out of the stadium after say goodbye to their three new friends. As they disappeared around the corner, Tierno turned to Shauna with an exaggerated look.

"You got Serena's number!?" Tierno exclaimed. "You gotta give it to me.".

"Nice try, Tierno." Shauna replied with a smug expression. "But that is up to Serena. Besides, she's already taken remember.". That one statement brought Tierno down and he curled up into a ball again.

"No need to remind me." Tierno mumbled.

Walking along the path towards the dock the group of: Ash; Serena; Misty; Brock; Drake; Leaf; Pikachu and Togepi was a happy group, although they are also quiet, as they all seem to have their own thoughts.

Ash was excited. He already has five new rivals who he is competing against to win the four gym badges and will compete against to become the Orange League champion. Of course, he wasn't happy to find out that Tierno has a crush on Serena but he is already her boyfriend and he completely trusts her. Not to mention, he can't really blame the boy and if Tierno was good enough to be accepted into the Orange League than he must be a good trainer.

Serena, while embarrassed at first when Tierno revealed he had a crush on her and while Shauna was kind of like a fan girl. All three of her new friends are nice, she even has a lot in common with Shauna who is going to help her get into Pokemon Contests to see if it something she would be interested in. With the memory of a horrible failure when she first attempted to take on the Chateau at the start of her journey still fresh in her mind, she is making sure to take her time this time.

Misty is humming a little tune as she is skipping along. Possibly for the first time since catching it, Misty has Poliwag in her Pokeball. While Misty is excited to see what other water Pokemon she can find and the beaches where she can work on her tan. She is also very excited for one of Ash's gym battles in particular as she met the Gym Leader a couple of times in Kanto and just seemed to click with him. He was actually the first guy to treat her like a lady and not some tom boy, after all.

Brock is reading his guild book although he already knows all the information that he needs. In truth, he is trying to distract himself from all of the attractive ladies on the beach they are walking past. In total honesty, Brock doesn't want to be the complete flirt that he is. He would love to find the perfect women and settle down in a place where they can study Pokemon and where he can become the perfect breeder. That would-be heaven for him.

Drake has his mind focused on the youngest of the competing trainers in the Orange League, Alvin. He is so deep in thought that he hasn't even noticed Leaf holding his hand. In truth, in many ways Alvin is a better trainer then himself considering that he was accepted into the Orange League with only one battle in a league, which he lost. This is because the Orange League is about the bond between a Pokemon and their trainer. Since it was Drake who made it to the top four, if Alvin battled anyone else in the first round than who knows how far he would've gone.

Leaf is happily skipping next to Drake, hand in hand. While she would like to do what Serena is doing, which is rest her head on the boy she is next to but she is just too excited. By tomorrow at the latest, the group will have the G.S. ball in hand and she can start exploring these islands. Of course, she doesn't want to leave Drake, at least not until one or both of them confess but she can't help but think it is a little soon for that and Drake has made it perfectly clear that he wants to learn from Ash. While she isn't against travelling with Ash, she is so hyper active that she might drag them to a remote out of the way island while Ash only has three months to collect the gym badges. Of course, she will go and support Ash when he competes and maybe at that time, she can claim Drake as her own.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	4. Professor Ivy & the GS Ball

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the part I have been dreading. We say goodbye to Brock... Until Johto, then he will be back. While he is away, I want to develop Misty so when he comes back I can develop Brock. One thing I regret about the Kanto arc is just having these two take a back seat. They will play a bigger role (along with the other travelling companions) and will even have chapters based around them. Of course, I can't really do that for Brock until he returns. As for this chapter, I feel like it is pretty similar to the cannon but that isn't always a bad thing. We also say goodbye to Leaf, she will return, but not until the Power of One arc near the end. Question Time:_**

 ** _Jasmine:_**

 ** _Q) Will there be any Pokemon mega evolve in this story? A) I am bringing in Mega evolution around Hoenn and the battle Frontier for Ash and Serena, they will each have one Pokemon per region (not including the Orange Islands) that can mega evolve when the time comes. Ash's Kanto Pokemon already has its mega stone and Serena's will find it's in this arc but neither will use it until the pre-mentioned arcs._**

 ** _Remember to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 4: Professor Ivy & the GS Ball_

Stepping off the boat they caught from Pummelo Island, the group of six trainers and two Pokemon are now stood on Valencia Island. Looking around it reminded the group of Cinnebar Island from all those months ago. Although a main difference is the population. Being a main tourist attraction for Kanto, Cinnebar was jam packed with tourists while Valencia seems to have more of a home with nature feel to it.

"So where is the lab?" Ash asked Brock who is their usual navigator.

"Err..." Brock replied as he stared at the nearby beech which while not jam packed, it had a fair few people. His face was bright red as he saw all the beautiful ladies, but one wiggle from Rhyhorn's Pokeball snapped the breeder out of day dreaming. "Sorry, what was you saying Ash?".

"We have to follow the beach line north to get to the lab." Drake sighed as he put his Pokegear away.

"Wow Drake, how did you figure that out?" Leaf asked as she attempted to grab his hand although he quickly shoved both his hands into his pockets as he has learned that Leaf will grab his hands whenever out in the open.

"The Pokegear has a Town Map function. Using the GPS, it gives a detailed map of the local area no matter where we are." Drake replied. Seeing the look on his brother's face, Drake deadpanned. "You did know about Town Map function, didn't you?".

"Eheheh, not exactly." Ash chuckled nervously.

"I shouldn't be surprised." Drake sighed. "Are we gonna get going?".

The others agreed and the group started walking down the path towards the lab. Drake was off to the side chatting with his Cubone. True to his word, he has been trying to bond with his Pokemon. Other than Cubone, he seems to be having the most success Charizard and Jolteon but he is far from doing it naturally. The best thing that could happen for him would be, to watch Ash work with a wild Pokemon and chances are that will happen at some point.

Leaf was walking somewhat close to Drake. Still upset that she missed her chance to grab his hand, this is probably going to be the last day travelling with the group for a while, seeing as they are so close to getting the Pokeball for Professor Oak and true to her hyper active nature, she doesn't want to just sit around.

Misty was walking closest to the beech as she looked over the beach. Unlike Brock, she was having her own day dream about just spending time on the beach and working on her tan. Or maybe spending some time fishing and find more amazing water Pokemon like her new Poliwag. Both of these would work well when Ash takes on the Trovita gym leader as she can impress him with her trainer skill or tan respectively.

Brock is in the middle of the path with his head in a book. It is a research book Professor Oak gave them before they left which this Professor Ivy wrote on regional differences between Pokemon native in Kanto and the Orange Islands. For the most part, Drake and Leaf have been reading this and normally something like this wouldn't interest him. At first, he was just reading it to distract himself from the beach but as he got further into the more it has pulled him in. This stuff is really interesting and no doubt this Professor will have a lot of breeding techniques.

Serena is walking in total bliss as she is holding Ash's hand while resting on his shoulder. This first day in the Orange Archipelago couldn't be any better. Ash has already induced to compete and they made it too Valencia with it only being mid-afternoon. Of course, they will probably be spending the night on this island but the two main things they came here to do would've been knocked out. Not to mention they made new friends and she will get to see a real life Pokemon Contest in the near future, which might lead her to a new goal. Things couldn't be better.

Ash is walking along with Serena holding his hand and her head resting on his shoulder while he lifted Togepi up to his face with a look of somewhere between determination and desperation.

"Okay Togepi, try one more time." Ash sighed. "Use Metronome.".

"Toge?" Togepi questioned as he tilted his head in confusing. Soon a bright smile formed on the fairy types face and he happily waved his arms around. "Dada!". He leaned forward and gave his daddy a hug on the face happily.

"What are you doing?" Drake asked.

"Earlier with the rain cloud, you said it was Togepi who used Metronome." Ash explained although Togepi was squeezing his nose which changed his voice, causing the young fairy type to laugh at his daddy's voice. "I was trying to get him to do it again.".

"That was just a theory Ash." Drake sighed. "And walking down the path isn't the best place to practise a move like metronome.".

"How come?" Serena asked.

"Because Metronome is a move which could turn into any other move any other Pokemon could use." Drake explained. "Imagine what would happen if Togepi did it just now, and it turned into an Explosion.".

In Ash's head, he plays a sort of thought video of the six of them walking down the road when they are engulfed in an explosion. As the smoke clears, they are all on the ground injured and Officer Jenny showed because of all of the damaged caused.

"Eheheh, yeah. Maybe it is best we leave it for now." Ash replied after Togepi finally ended his embrace. Ash, Serena and Drake all looked at the fairy type who let out a happy chirp at getting all of the attention from the three trainers.

"Priiii!" Togepi cheered as the group continued onwards to the Valencia Island research lab and home of Professor Ivy.

* * *

Soon the group was stood outside of a research lab. For the most part, it resembles Professor Oak's lab back in Pallet Town as it has a fairly old-fashioned design with a primary colour of white. The only real difference if the surroundings as this lab is surrounded by a vast thick forest while Professor Oak's is out in the open at the top of a hill. It also seems to be a bit smaller then Professor Oak's lab and there seems to be something missing.

"Um, I don't see a doorbell." Ash stated lamely. "What are we supposed to do?".

"Maybe what they did back before door bells were invented." Drake suggested with a sigh. Stepping forward, he knocked on the door three times before stepping back and waiting for someone to answer.

It didn't take long, maybe twenty seconds for someone to answer the door. As it flew open, there were three nerdy-looking teenage girls around Misty's age. Just from appearance it is clear they are sisters. Despite being older, they were around Ash's, Drake's, Leaf's and Serena's height. All three of them are wearing short-sleeved tropical designed shirts. Much like the sensation sisters, the only difference seems to be in their hair.

"Hello..." The first girl spoke.

"What are you..." The next girl started.

"All doing here?" The final one asked.

The group of six all had awkward expressions on as they looked at the three sisters. Their voices are all practically identical and they even finish each other's sentences. Almost like they are Psychic types and can communicate with each other telepathically. Still, the group knew they should reply before things get weird.

"Hello, we were wondering if we could speak with Professor Ivy please." Ash replied.

"Really?" The first girl asked.

"Why do you..." The next girl started.

"Want to see her?" The final one asked.

The group sweat dropped at the three girls. Forget about that, them being part Psychic type theory, right now they are acting more like robots and are all hooked up to the same main frame.

"Well, I'm Brock. These are: Ash; Serena; Misty; Leaf and Drake." Brock stepped forward being the oldest and most mature of the group. He pointed out each person as he mentioned them. "We were sent by Professor Oak, to collect a Pokeball of some sort.".

"Oh, you're with Professor Oak." The auburn-haired girl replied. "My name is Charity.".

"I'm Hope." The red-haired girl added.

"And I'm Faith." The last one introduced.

"We're Professor Ivy's assistants." The trio declared together.

"Charity, Hope and Faith." Misty mumbled in amusement. The triplets are named after the three theological virtues.

"We will take you to..." Hope started.

"Professor Ivy right away." Faith finished.

"Follow us." Charity added as the three of them turned around and started walking into the lab. The group looked at each other before following them into the lab.

Sure, the three of them seem a little weird but they also seem nice and if they work her at a research lab then they must be good with Pokemon. As they walked behind the triplets, Brock inwardly chuckled to himself. These three remind him of his own siblings, namely Billy and Tilly. Being the two youngest of all his siblings they tend to use similar speaking patterns. Brock finds it sort of amusing.

* * *

As the group made their way outside of the lab a collective gasp could be heard from: Ash; Serena; Leaf; Misty; and Brock as they saw a vast combination of land and sea. Drake, was also impressed with the expansive area just isn't as vocal about it. Despite the actual lab being on the smaller side, the back could easily rival the ranch that Professor Oak has. Then again, they can't even see the back of this land because of the forest, so it could easily be bigger.

"Does all of this land belong to Professor Ivy?" Leaf asked as she tried to hide her excitement. Her inner adventure is telling her to just run right into the forest and see what she can find. No, they are here for a job and not to explore.

"It sure does." Clarity declared with a sense of pride.

"We use all this space for the Pokemon to live in." Hope added.

"While we study them." Faith finished.

The group nodded in understanding as they continued deeper into the forest where they presumed Professor Ivy was. As they walked, it became quite dark due to the thick trees above them. Serena used this and just tightened her grip around Ash's arm. The raven-haired boy felt this and looked at his girlfriend.

"You alright, Serena? Not scared, are you?" Ash asked. He knows she has a fear of the supernatural, like back at the Pokemon tower but this forest isn't so much creepy as it is mystical.

"Hehehe, yeah Ash. Let's say that's it?" Serena whispered with a giggle as she pecked his cheek. Ash blushed and could tell by the tone of her voice that she wasn't scared in the slightest. She was just using it as an excuse to be closer.

Drake rolled his eyes at the couple and turned his attention to going down the path. He has nothing against Serena, she is probably the nicest out of all of Ash's friends in Drake's option. He just can't understand the whole show of affection thing and he doesn't really want to watch them when they are acting that way.

As he looked ahead of him, he found Leaf looking into a brush obviously trying to find some Pokemon. He rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the guilds through this forest. He just wants to get this GS ball as soon as possible. After the two-week cruise with her, he is desperate for a break from her and she had made it clear that she plans to go off on her own to explore once they have the GS ball.

Coming out of the forest the group found themselves on a sort of secluded beach area. It wasn't that big but the sea which is in front of them is very vast and expansive (much like the forest). The group can only imagine how much of it belongs to Professor Ivy seeing as there are no barriers to see.

"Professor Ivy! We've got some visitors for you!" The triplets shouted in unison.

Looking around, the group couldn't see any sort of sign of the Pokemon Professor. Come to think of it, they haven't seen any Pokemon either. Well, seeing as the three girls are calling out over the water, the Professor is clearly out there but nowhere to be seen. Could she be under the water? If that is the case, would she even hear the assistant. Of course, they did shout loud but was it really loud enough? After half a minute, the triplets turned back to the group.

"Sorry about this." Hope apologised.

"Professor Ivy is probably studying some of the Pokemon, meaning she is in her own little world." Faith explained.

"She should be too much longer." Charity reassured.

Seeing as it will take a while before the Professor shows up, the group had a chance to collect their thoughts. Serena was still cuddled up against Ash and can't wait for the romantic areas they will find in the Orange Islands. They are on the beach after all, which is one of the most romantic places. Drake was just counting the seconds as Ash was thinking about his upcoming gym battles. Misty is excited for the sight of any water Pokemon while Leaf is trying and failing to cuddle up to Drake like Serena is to Ash.

Brock, however, has his thoughts on the Professor of this lab. After reading that article on regional differences he can already tell she is a very intelligent women and could give him a lot of help with different breeding techniques. He doesn't know why, but his gut is telling him like something big is about to happen.

"How long have you three worked with Professor Ivy?" Misty asked, trying to make small talk.

"Around seven years." Charity answered. "Since we were little.".

"Professor Ivy is like a mother to us." Hope added.

" _A mother figure_..." Brock thought to himself. He can relate as back when he was the gym leader, he was much like a father figure to his siblings. Heh, funny that the triplets remind him of his siblings and now he is thinking about his family again.

The rest of the group looked down, it is clear that Professor Ivy is the girls main parenting figure. None of them have a clue about their real parents or why they would come to live with Professor Ivy at such a young age but it doesn't seem to bother them. They should just push it to the back of their mind and try to forget about it. After all, it isn't really their business.

Soon a loud roar could be heard from the water and looking towards it they found a Gyarados burst out of the water. The group jumped in surprise except for the triplets while Ash; Serena; Misty and Drake each grabbed a Pokeball in case it attacked. The water flying type started speeding towards the shore.

"Professor! We have company!" The triplets shouted together.

The Gyarados came to a stop near the shore and a female became visible on the atrocious Pokemon's back. Said female jumped and flew over the reaming part of the water. Charity throw a lab coat which the woman caught and put on in mid-air before landing on one knee in front of the group.

The female was quite young despite being an adult and clearly older then all of them, late twenties to early thirties. Her hair is purple and short length which is quite slender although it spikes out at the end, while her eyes give off the impression that she is tired. Under her lab coat she has a one-piece bikini on which in all honesty is very revelling.

"Please to meet you, I am Professor Ivy." The women greeted the group. "How can I help you?".

Out of all of the group, it was Brock who ended up staring dumbly at the women in front of them. This was Professor Ivy? He was expecting a much older woman around Professor Oak's age but she was most definitely the last person he expected. He tried to straighten himself out. While he was able to get rid of his blush for the most part, he still had a stupid goofy smile on his face.

" _Well, Heeeelllloooo Professor Ivy_." Brock thought to himself.

"Hello, I'm Ash Ketchum." Ash greeted with a hand shake. "These are: Serena; Drake; Leaf; Misty and...". Ash was pointing out each person as he said their name but was cut off when it came to the Pokemon breeder.

"My names Brock." Brock cut Ash by jumping forward and shaking the Professor's hand. "It is a real pleasure to meet you.".

"The pleasures all mine." Professor Ivy smiled as she ended the handshake with Brock.

"Brock, are you alright?" Serena asked in a whisper so the others wouldn't hear. They are used to Brock's behaviour when it comes to beautiful women but this time it is different. He hasn't proposed or said anything too bad. Sure, interrupting was rude but this time he seems to be trying to control himself and they haven't even seen Rhyhorn's Pokeball wiggle.

"If you don't mind me asking, but is that Gyarados yours?" Misty asked.

"Yes and no." Professor Ivy replied. "We don't catch any of the Pokemon on this island but we study them and in return provide them with food and shelter. Gyarados use to be a Magikarp and while still a wild Pokemon, we are good friends.". As the Professor spoke, the atrocious Pokemon lowered his head and she stroked the dark blue crest on his head. The water flying type cooed under the Professor's touch.

"Ya know, it's kind of refreshing to see a Gyarados who doesn't lick me first chance it gets." Ash commented as the Gyarados stood back up. He briefly looked down to the Pokeball containing his own Gyarados. As weird as it is to have a Gyarados who shows any sort of affection, he wouldn't change his Gyarados or any of his Pokemon, sure they may have their own little quirks but they are also a part of his family and the best Pokemon a guy could ask for.

"You have a Gyarados, Ash?" The Professor asked after hearing what the raven-haired boy just said.

"I sure do, he is one of strongest Pokemon." Ash replied. "Even if he has a bad habit of showing his affection as soon as he comes out.".

"It is quite rare for a Gyarados to listen to a trainer, let alone show any sort of affection." The Professor replied. "If yours does then it speaks volumes about you as a trainer.".

"Hehehe, thank you." Ash replied bashfully. "It is actually because of Gyarados that I was invited to partake in the Orange League.".

"Well, I may not keep up to date with leagues but I wish you luck in your upcoming battles." The Professor replied. "So, what can I help you with?".

"Oh right, we were sent by Professor Oak." Ash replied. "He wanted us to pick up a special Pokeball.".

"Of course, he told me he was sending a group of children." Professor Ivy replied. "Please, follow me to my lab.".

Professor Ivy lead the way with her three assistants as the group followed closely behind. Although the group was making sure to keep an eye on Brock, especially since Rhyhorn seems to be taking a vacation for the time being.

* * *

Once the group made it back into the lab, they were lead into a room which resembled Professor Oak's upstairs lab. It was filled with all sorts of technology and different pieces of equipment. With a massive computer, which is probably what Professor does the majority of her work on; a transport was nearby but the main item of interest was a Pokeball on a table under a glass container.

"Here it is." The Professor declared as she signalled to the different coloured Pokeball on the table. Seeing as the group were a fair distance away from the item of interest, she let out a little chuckle. "You can come closer, it isn't a bomb or anything.".

The group took the Professor's advice and stepped closer up to the table as Professor Ivy took the glass container off the Pokeball. Pikachu and Cubone jumped onto the table respectively and walked up to the item. Pikachu acted first and tried to sniff the object, but it lacked all types of scent. Normally, a Pokeball has the scent of the Pokemon that it belongs to but this one just doesn't smell of anything.

"No luck, buddy?" Ash asked his starter. Who nodded as his answer.

Now it was Cubone's chance to see what was inside. Unlike Pikachu, he doesn't have a great sense of smell. Of course, he can smell but his nose isn't as advanced as the electric type. Well, might as well take the direct route. Picking up his bone, he whacked it down on the Pokeball. To his and everyone else's surprise, the bone just bounced off and didn't even leave a scratch on the surface. It was almost like the Pokeball used the move Protect.

"Quite intriguing, isn't it." Professor Ivy spoke up. Unlike the group, neither Professor Ivy or the triplets seem surprised that neither Pikachu or Cubone could figure something out about the different coloured Pokeball. "For simplicity, we've called it the GS Ball.".

"The GS ball..." Ash muttered as he stared at the object.

" _Hello_..." A faint voice appeared in Ash's head. " _Hello, are you there... Chosen one_?". Ash quickly looked around and by the expression on the others faces, it is clear that he was the only one who heard that voice.

"You okay, Ash?" Serena asked.

"Um, yeah. Just fine." Ash replied with a hint of confusion.

Could he have just made that voice up in his head? It is possible, but is it likely? The voice mentioned the Chosen one, which definitely set off alarm bells for the raven-haired boy as that is what Aerodactyl has referred to him as. It is possible it could have something to do with his aura, but he would need to ask his dad if it has anything to do with that. Plus, there is that whole thing with his dad seeing a hidden potential in Aerodactyl. Could this whole thing be connected?

"Right, we named it GS after the markings made on the top half." Professor Ivy replied. It seems like neither Professor Ivy or the assistance seemed to notice Ash's expression since they were looking at the GS ball. "If you look closely, they look like the letters G and S.".

"That makes sense." Serena replied. "It could also stand for Gold and Silver. Seeing as those are the colours of the Pokeball.". It is true, the top half of the mysterious Pokeball is gold while the bottom half is silver.

"Correct Serena, that is the only conclusion we were able to come up with for the presents of the markings." Professor Ivy replied. "Unfortunately, we haven't had much luck in uncovering its other secrets.".

"Oh right, Professor Oak mentioned that it couldn't be transported." Leaf interjected.

"That's right." Charity replied.

"It won't transport." Hope added.

"No matter what we try." Faith finished.

"That is just one of the GS balls mysterious, here we will show you." Professor Ivy replied as she picked the GS ball up and carried it over to the transporter. Placing it in the machine, she turned it on. The ball was engulfed in light, which is when the Pokeball would normally disappear but as the light faded, the GS ball was still in the same spot. It was almost like an outside force was stopping it from being transported. "We have used the transporter both before and after trying to transport the GS ball so it isn't our machine either.".

"Have you tried to open it?" Drake asked.

"Many times." Professor Ivy replied with a sigh. "Hammers, crowbars, chainsaws, hacksaws, power drills, dynamite and even lasers... Guess we can add a Cubone's bone to that list.".

"Serious?" Leaf asked in shock.

"Yes. We have had no-luck with this item." Charity replied.

"That is why we need to pass it onto Professor Oak..." Hope started.

"He has more experience and will probably have more luck." Faith finished.

"I see..." Ash muttered as all attention was drawn back to the Pokeball. "So, how did you find it. Anyway?".

"It was just on the beach one day. I had visited the local Pokemon Centre to collect some medicine for one of the Pokemon that lives at the lab." Professor Ivy explained. "I heard what sounded like a child calling out for help, wanting to find him. When I arrived, no-body was around except for myself and this GS ball.".

"My brain hurts just trying to figure this thing out." Misty groaned as she pinched the ridge of her nose.

"Well, this explains why Professor Oak was so interested in it." Leaf piped up. "He loves solving puzzles, just like this one.". The others nodded in agreement as Professor Ivy took the GS ball out of the transporter and carried it back to the group, handing it to Ash.

"Here Ash, the GS ball. Make sure you take good care of it and get it to Professor Oak safely." Professor Ivy instructed as Ash held it in his hand. He didn't know why but now that he held it, it felt like a Pokemon. Kind of like how Togepi felt in the egg, but this one was a lot more powerful. Could it just be because they hardly know anything about the mystery which is the GS ball? Or maybe it has something to do with his aura. One thing is for sure, this whole mess is confusing.

"I will." Ash replied as he slipped the GS ball into his bag. The first reason they came to the Orange Islands. they have the GS ball for Professor Oak. All they need to do is have Ash collect the four Orange League gym badges and win the Orange League. "You can count on me.".

"Maybe you should give Professor Oak a call." Serena suggested. "I'm sure he would want to know that we have the GS ball.".

"Of course, you can use my phone at the lab." Professor Ivy interjected with a friendly smile.

Leading the group into a separate room, they walked over to the phone and Ash went to sit down. Unfortunately, Leaf beat him to it. Moving the seat away he fell on the floor as she took the seat. Ash glared as his surrogate sister who just hummed a happy tone as she dialled in the number. It took around thirty seconds before the screen lit up with Professor Oak's face. Once the Professor saw who was calling, he smiled.

"Hey Professor!" Leaf greeted rather loudly. "Guess what!".

"Ah, hello Leaf. Hello to everyone else as well." The Professor greeted. He has a fairly good idea about what this call is about. "What is it?".

"We've arrived at Professor Ivy's lab and she gave us something for you." Leaf informed in an excited manor. She quickly dragged Ash into the view of the screen and opened his bag fishing out the GS ball before he could even speak. Once it was in her hand she pushed Ash out of the way and held it in view of the phone.

"The GS ball." The Professor mused as he folded his arms.

"Correct." Professor Ivy interjected as she too pushed her way to the screen. Leaf moved out of the way so the two Professors could speak.

"Ah, Philena. How are you?" Professor Oak asked.

"I'm doing fine, Samuel." Professor Ivy replied. "I must say, your recent report on the challenges facing Pokemon's natural habitation to be quite fascinating. Especially the part of how flying type migration patterns can be changed by the trainers passing through their territory.".

Oh yes, I recently had a strong Fearow pay a visit to my ranch as he was trying to escape a trainer. That is what started my theory in the first place." Professor Oak replied. "But your latest article on the regional difference on Kanto Pokemon in the Orange Islands and how they differ to those found in Alola was quite intriguing.".

"I'm glad you found it, intriguing." Professor Ivy replied. "I should thank you for the research notes from your cousin that you gave me, they really helped tie the piece together.".

The group couldn't help but tilt their heads with curiosity as to the familiarity between the two Professor's. They call each other by the first name. In all honesty, it is a little awkward for group seeing as they are always so formal with the Professors. Then again, it could feel awkward when Gary would call Professor Oak Gramps.

"Uh..." Ash muttered as he tried to find a way to make this a little less awkward, unsuccessfully.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I suppose we got a little carried away." Professor Ivy apologised. "It's not too often that us Professors can just chat casually, with all of our work which we need to keep up to date on.".

"This was chatting casually?" Misty muttered under her breath. The tone in her voice clearly showed she didn't believe it.

"Ah yes, sorry for the interruption." Professor Oak also apologised. "Now, I want you all to take care of the GS ball during your travels. And please contact me from time to time in case something happens with it.".

"We will Professor!" Leaf replied.

"Now, I must be going as I need to return your Pokemon for the night." Professor Oak replied.

"Hold on, Professor." Ash stopped him. "I thought you let our Pokemon stay out until it was dark. It only about half six, is this normally the time you feed them tea?".

"Hehehe, it may be that time where you are my boy." The Professor chuckled lightly. "But Kanto is about two and a half hours ahead of the Orange Archipelago meaning it is currently nine at night.".

"Okay Professor." Ash nodded in understanding. Guess by travelling here on a boat meant they didn't really experience the time difference. Guess they will need to remember that time difference now that they are travelling in a different region.

"Good point, Samuel. It is time that we fed the Pokemon here as well." Professor Ivy added. With one more good bye, the phone call ended. The group realised this was probably going to be the part that they left until...

"Excuse me Professor Ivy, would you mind if we helped you with feeding the Pokemon?" Leaf asked as she tried to calm her excitement.

"You, want to help?" Professor Ivy asked sceptical. Feeding Pokemon isn't what most youngsters would want to do with their free time, especially when they aren't even feeding their own Pokemon.

"Of course, all of the boats from this island have already left so this will be my best chance to see some of the differences to Kanto Pokemon." Leaf explained as she continued to fail to hold in her excitement.

"I wouldn't mind seeing some of the water Pokemon at the lab." Misty added.

"Yeah, and we can feed our Pokemon at the same time." Serena added.

"Who knows, maybe we could even exchange some recipes." Brock proposed is a flirty tone. Surprisingly enough, Rhyhorn's Pokeball failed to even wiggle again. Is he just asleep or maybe he has given up at trying to reign Brock in?

"Why thank you, the extra help would be appreciated." Professor Ivy smiled. Seeming oblivious to Brock's advances. "If you would like, you can all stay here tonight.".

"That would be great." Ash replied on behalf of the group. "Thanks a bunch, Professor.". With the arrangements made, Professor Ivy lead the group to the kitchen where the triplets already at work, creating several different types of Pokemon food.

* * *

Once the food was made the group took it outside. Somehow Ash ended up being the on troll with all of the bowls on.

First, they fed the water types in the sea. The group also released all the water types they had on hand: Ash released his Wartortle and Gyarados. Serena released her: Seadra, Seel and Kabuto. Misty released her: Tentacruel, Kingler, Psyduck, Vaporeon, Shelder and Poliwag. Brock released his Omanyte. Leaf released her Slowbro. Drake released his Starmie. Needless to say, they were shocked to see Ash really does have an affectionate Gyarados. When it was mentioned earlier, it didn't do justice to was an amazing thing this is. They were also impressed to see both a Kabuto and Omanyte in the flesh.

With the water types fed, the group made their way through the forest where they found a sort of flying type flock. Pidgey's, Pidgeotto's, Spearow's, a Fearow, Dodrio's and even a couple of Farfetch'd's. Ash let out his Pidgeot to join them. Brock released his Golbat. Leaf released her Fearow. Due to her size, the wild flying types seemed to take to Pidgeot like the new head. Although she was flattered she told them not to treat her different to the others.

After leaving the flying types, the group made their way to a sort of mountain location which had a bunch of rock, ground and fighting types. Geodude's, Graveler's, Onix's, Sandshrew's, Sandslash's, Diglett's, Dugtrio's, Machop's, Machoke's, Mankey's, Primeape's, and Rhyhorn's. Ash released his own Primeape who wasn't happy to see the others of his species, he still has those memories of the bully he use to have. Serena released her Kangashkan, despite being a normal type she is normally found near mountains so she would probably feel at home here. Brock released his: Golem, Diglett and Rhyhorn, despite the other Diglett and Dugtrio being friendly, Brock's Diglett refused to leave Brock's other Pokemon. Leaf released her Clefable since she found the fairy type at Mt. Moon.

Heading back towards the lab, they stopped by a meadow area filled with mostly grass and bug types but also some fire, normal and poison Pokemon were present like: Growlithe, Vulpix, Meowth, and Ekans. Ash released his Ivysaur. Serena released her Tangela and Eevee, who Pikachu joined. Brock released his own Vulpix. Leaf released her: Venusaur, Flareon and Venomoth. Drake released his: Charizard, Victreebel, Jolteon and Snorlax while his Cubone joined them. Ash would've set down Togepi to join Pikachu, but the fairy type was already asleep. Ash didn't mind as Serena fed Togepi while he pushed the trolley around so he already ate and it would be close to his bed time anyway. Over all, both Professor Ivy and the triplets were impressed by all the Pokemon.

"All your Pokemon are wonderful, clearly well raised." Professor Ivy commented.

"Thanks." Ash replied with his typical toothy grin. "We owe a lot of it to Brock, he really is a great breeder.".

"While Brock, you certainly have a talent for Pokemon breeding." Professor Ivy turned to the tanned Pokemon breeder. It is true, while she is impressed with all the Pokemon it is easy to tell which belong to the battlers; the adventure and the breeder.

"Hehehe, that's very kind of you to say." Brock uttered as he turned bright red. " _Could she like me back? No. She was just being nice... And beautiful, and perfect_.".

"Don't encourage him, Ash." Misty muttered as she elbowed the raven-haired boy in the ribs. Ash groaned from the blow as he is still tired from pushing the trolley around. While one would think it would get easier over time, they were also collected the bowls left earlier so the load never seemed to disappear.

"Oh no." Hope muttered.

"Not again." Faith added in the same tone.

"What is up with this Vulpix?" Charity asked in frustration.

"Something the matter?" Leaf asked as she popped up next to the triplets. It is clear from how they were speaking that something was. In truth, other than trying to help them out, she wanted to get a closer look at the Vulpix. Unlike Brock's this one has a dark fur coat, almost tanned like and is eyes are darkened like they have been combined with a pair of sunglasses. It is obvious both of these changes occurred because of the intense sun they are constantly exposed to.

"It's this Vulpix." Charity answered.

"Our food has all the required dietary needs." Hope continued.

"But she won't touch the food." Faith finished.

Brock had overheard the conversation and decided he could take a look. After all, his own Vulpix was a fussy eater according to Suzy but she has never turned down one of his meals. No Pokemon has. This will be his perfect chance to show Professor Ivy his culinary skills. With his mind made up, he made his way over to the girls.

"Hey, do you mind if I have a try with it?" Brock asked.

"Sure." Charity replied.

"Go right ahead." Hope added.

"Be our guest." Faith finished.

Brock shot them a grateful smile before kneeling down to the fire type and the bowl in front of her. To start with, he scratched her behind the ear. The place where he always scratches his Vulpix. Despite the different colouring they both cooed under his touch. With Vulpix happy, Brock picked up one of the pallets and seemed to be analysing it. He then made an unexpected move by eating it. His face clearly showed discomfort before he swallowed with a hard gulp. Now that he knows what the problem is, he slides his back pack off his back before fishing out two Figy berries and an Oran Berry. He cut the Oran berry up before mixing the dices into the food and then squeezed the Figy Berry juice over the food. He stood back up and watched as Vulpix sniffed the food before digging right in.

"Oh wow..." The triplets muttered in unison. All five of them failed to notice the Professor and the others approach them. Much like the triplets, Professor Ivy was also shocked to see Vulpix wolfing the Pokemon food down like a Snorlax.

"My sentiments exactly girls." Professor Ivy remarked to her assistance. "Brock, this is amazing. This Vulpix has been a fussy eater for as long as I have known her, she has even made herself sick on countless occasions because she refused to eat. How did you get her to eat the food?".

"Hehehe, well your food may be perfect in terms of a Pokemon's diet. The Pokemon itself doesn't really care about that stuff." Brock explained. "All the Pokemon really cares about is the taste. Fire types tend to prefer spicy food, which is why I let the pellets soak up the Figy berry juice. The Oran berry was just for flavour as I noticed it tasted pretty bland, no offence.".

"None taken." Professor Ivy muttered as she continued to stare at the fire type in shock. Of course, how could she miss something so obvious as the flavour. It is arguably the most important element for cooking whether for people or Pokemon.

"This place really is amazing..." Brock muttered as he looked across all of the Pokemon in meadow.

"How do you figure?" Professor Ivy asked with intrigue.

"I mean... This place is just so great. You get to live and study the Pokemon here every day. Even though they are wild they treat you like a trainer because of the close bond you share." Brock explained. "It is just so great that you get to do this every day.".

"I guess you would think so, being a Pokemon breeder." Professor Ivy replied before going to collect the bowls they left previously.

"You are also amazing..." Brock muttered under his breath as he watched the Professor collect the bowls.

Serena saw the look in Brock's eye and immediately recognised it. It is the same way she has looked at Ash since the day she met him when he saved her from that forest. The look is full of admiration... and love. It is clear it isn't just the flirty kind of feeling like he has for Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny since he hasn't really gone over the top with his advances. Who would've thought that Brock would find someone he would have true feelings for here at a Pokemon lab?

By the time Serena had finished her thought Professor Ivy had made her way back with all of the dirty bowls. Since the group is spending the night at the lab, they decided to let their Pokemon sleep in the labs back garden. Of course, Togepi is too young to do that but even Pikachu seems to be spending the night with the others. Professor Ivy just finished placing the bowls on the trolley before turning towards Brock.

"You know, Brock. It would be great if you could share some of your recipes with us." Professor Ivy requested kindly.

"I-I'd be happy to." Brock stuttered with a bright red face.

"Really Brock!" Charity Exclaimed.

"That would just be...!" Hope joined in.

"The best thing ever!" Faith finished in the same manner.

"Whoa, slow down." Brock tried to settle the triplets as they swarmed around him filled with excitement.

"Calm down girls, we can do all of that after dinner." Professor Ivy told the triplets. "We still need to decide who is stuck on cooking duty.". With those simple words, Brock turned away from the triplets towards the Professor.

"Did you just say cooking?" Brock asked.

"Why yes, since your all staying here tonight you can all join us." Professor Ivy replied with a friendly smile.

"Then you can just leave the cooking to me." Brock declared with a glint in his eye. This is his chance, to show the lovely Professor just the extent of his skills. He will show them that not only can he create the perfect food for Pokemon but also a beautiful meal for people as well.

* * *

After dropping the trolley off at the lab, Professor Ivy and the triplets lead the group to their house. It wasn't even a five-minute walk and was still close to the garden where all the Pokemon are sleeping (minus Togepi of course). This actually explains why this lab is so small compared to Professor Oak's lab, they don't live at the lab like Professor Oak does so it would make sense they only have the lab and research rooms.

"Here it is, home sweet home." Professor Ivy declared.

Upon entering the house, the group were surprised with what they saw. The house was an absolute mess. dirty clothes scattered everywhere. The rubbish bins were over flowing with litter also scattered everywhere. Drake even thought he wouldn't let his Snorlax lounge around in this and they are known for sleeping in really out their places. In short, it looks like a wardrobe blew up.

"Niiiiiiice place." Misty muttered sarcastically. She quickly covered her mouth after seeing the glares from Leaf and Serena, that did sound rude didn't it.

"Hehehe, we got so caught up in our research at the lab that we started to forget about taking care of the house." Professor Ivy replied in a light-hearted tone, not bothered by Misty's comment in the slightest. "Now we just call it...".

"... Our little dump." The triplets finished in a similar light-hearted tone.

"Is dump a little generous?" Ash asked with a nervous chuckle. He notice that the smell was making Togepi restless and he snuggled his head into Ash's arm to try and block out the smell. Despite the close call, he didn't actually wake up.

Brock, on the other hand, was shaking at the mess in front of him. It was almost like he was about to explode. How can anyone live in this? It's disgusting! It's vile! It's... Just like the messes his siblings use to make when he was looking after them.

"Um, you alright Brock?" Leaf asked nervously with a massive sweat drop on the back of her head.

"No..." Brock muttered. In the blink of an eye he seemed to disappear before reappearing a moment later with an apron on and a vacuum cleaner in his hand. "Floors need cleaning; carpets need vacuuming; clothes need washing. I can't take it!". Brock was soon at work cleaning the house like a one-man army against dirt.

In under three minutes he had the rubbish littered over the living room filled into four black bags and out by the bins. He also had all of the clothes collected and piled into several groups ready to be put into the washing machine with the first load going. Doing the finishing touches with the duster in one hand and vacuum in the other. Since the living room only has a carpet floor, he hasn't needed to bust out the mop yet.

"Um Brock, do you need some help?" Serena asked in a rather quite voice.

"No thanks, Serena. It's been way to long since I had a mess like this to clean up. I might explode if I don't sort it out." Brock replied as he finished the vacuum. With the living room done, it looked as good as new without a single spec of dirt.

Brock didn't stop there and burst into the kitchen. Like with the living room, he bagged up all of the rubbish and had them out by the others. Next, he loaded up the dish washer and started but realised he couldn't even fit half of the dirty plates and cooking utensils into the machine. Unable to resist, he pulled out a sponge and washed the remaining items by hand. Easily beating the dish washer. After sweeping what remained on the floor up, he quickly moped the floor and washed down every other surface. While organising what was meant to be there alphabetically. After cleaning the over, he quickly set on the dinner before finishing cleaning the kitchen. Finishing in the kitchen room he had the table set, everything spotless and tea on in under nine minutes.

"Brock sure is a great cleaner..." Professor Ivy marvelled at the work done by the tanned Pokemon breeder. She hasn't seen her house look so clean in, forever. "I could learn a thing or two from him.".

"I'll say..." The triplets replied as they too marvelled at work.

"Best part is, he works for free." Ash chuckled lightly. He even notices Togepi was no-long trying to avoid the horrible smell seeing as Brock had got rid of it.

With the dinner set and the first two rooms clean, Brock took one the latest rubbish bag out and noticed the large number of leaves over the garden and the mess in general. He has a couple of minutes before he needs to check on the food. Grabbing the rake, he got to work and had all the leaves in a nice neat pile in under two minutes. Once done with them, he also rearranged where the flower bed was meant to be seeing as it was currently existent. Once finished it was turned from a Grumpig stein to an award-winning garden.

On his way, back in he noticed the downstairs bathroom was also a mess and made a detour to making it spotless as well. Being the smallest room so far, he only brought out two bags of rubbish and like the rooms before it was made spotless.

Heading back into the kitchen, the group were amazed to see Brock wasn't even sweating with the speed and amount of work he has been doing. He checked on the food before noticing that while the ground floor is complete, he has yet touched the top floor.

Grabbing what he needs, Brock shot up the stairs and got to work cleaning the landing and four bedrooms. One had three beds in which clearly showed it was where the triplets slept while two doors were locked showing no-one has entered in a long time and the final room had a massive bed in as it was the master bedroom. Collecting a total of twenty-four black bags of rubbish from the upstairs alone. Brock soon had all the rooms looking brand new, with all the beds made and not a single thing out of place. He found the keys for the other rooms when cleaning the kitchen and due to them each having a bed buried in the dirt, he figured they must be guest rooms.

As he finished taking the rubbish bags out, it had been nearly half an hour since they first stepped foot in the house. Any normal person would've taken days to clean the one room but Brock completed the entire house, the garden and had a five-star meal cooked and placed on the table in half an hour at most.

"Everything is all set, Professor." Brock told them as he placed the stew bowl in the middle of the table. "Just wait until you try my famous stew.".

"Well girls, I say we all owe Brock a big thank you." Professor Ivy told the triplets whose mouths were watering at the sight of the stew.

"You bet!" Charity cheered.

"Thanks a bunch Brock!" Hope shouted.

"You're the best!" Faith finished. Before another word could be uttered the triplets and the professor had begun to serve themselves. The rest of the group noticed that the four of them had finished the stew off by themselves. They looked at Brock who already had another batch on the pot.

* * *

It was soon nightfall and everyone went to the freshly cleaned rooms. While Professor Ivy and the triplets took their normal rooms, Ash; Drake and Brock took the first guest room while Serena; Leaf and Misty took the second guest room. Brock was the last to fall asleep as he had thoughts run through his head.

" _This place is perfect..._ " Brock thought happily to himself. " _Who would've thought we would find some place like this when we were given the quest to come and find the GS ball?_ ".

This place really is amazing. All the Pokemon here are so close to the Professor and the triplets, even though they are wild Pokemon. This is an aspiring breeder's paradise. They have all the Pokemon to work with and the island itself is beautiful.

" _Than there is Professor Ivy and the triplets..._ " Brock continued his thought processes.

Professor Ivy is truly amazing. Sure, she is attractive but it is so much more than that. She is everything Brock wants to become. She has such a way with all the Pokemon on the island and is clearly very knowledgeable on all the different area of Pokemon. In all honesty, his brain has been going on over drive wanting him to ask the Professor out but she is different. Brock doesn't need to take her out and is just happy being around her. He hasn't even felt this way around Suzy; Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny.

Before he could fall asleep, Brock noticed the hall light turn on. Pecking out of the door he spotted Professor Ivy with a note pad and pen dressed in her lab coat clearly getting ready to leave for a midnight study session.

" _There are also the triplets..._ " Brock continued his thoughts. While he would normally run after the person he found attractive, his brain was refusing to leave this current conversation with himself.

The three girls maybe young and inexperienced but they are also incredibly bright. It is clear that something must've happened for them to come and live with the Professor. Still, that doesn't mean they are completely safe. It is overly obvious that they aren't great at caring for themselves. You just had to see the state of the house when they first arrived. They also don't know how to cook for themselves. What will happen when the group leaves tomorrow? Will it go back to how it was?

" _No!_ " Brock thought to himself.

In all honesty, taking his feelings for the Professor away the triplets remind him of his own sibling's way too much. He can't just abandond people in need. His head turned to see Ash asleep. While he would miss his friends, they don't really need him anymore. Sure, Ash may not be a cook but Brock has trained Serena in that aspect and both Ash and Misty know about the other different ways to care for each other... He wouldn't worry about their well-being, not like he would the triplets and the Professor.

" _I need to at least ask!_ " Brock told himself as he stood up from his sleeping bag. Making his way downstairs after the Professor.

* * *

The group woke up to the beautiful and familiar aroma of Brock's cooking. After the hearty breakfast, they found out that Brock had already fed the labs Pokemon and collected the others as well. With the meal over, the group stood outside of the lab.

"Well guys, this is it." Leaf said as she pulled Ash and Serena into bone-crushing hug. "Take care of yourselves and I'll be sure to come and support you in the Orange League, Ash.".

"Hehehe, will do." Ash chuckled lightly as Leaf let go. She turned to Drake and tackled him in a massive hug as well. The older twin looked at his ground type with pleading eyes and looked to be in physical pain. His eyes said two words, 'Help me...'.

"And I'll be sure to see you there, too." Leaf whispered in Drake's ear before letting go.

"Hehehe, great..." Drake muttered as he sighed in relief since the nightmare embrace ended.

"It was great spending time with you guys as well, Misty and Brock." Leaf told her new friends. "But I need to get going, or I'll miss the boat which'll take me to the island with the supposed Crystal Onix.". Before anyone could say another word, Leaf bolt off. Waving to the group as she disappeared.

"See ya later, sis!" Ash shouted.

"Keep in touch!" Serena shouted.

Soon Leaf was out of sight. With a bright smile on his face, Ash turned back and looked at his four other travelling companions. First is his girlfriend Serena, they started travelling together all that time ago when first setting out to explore Kanto. Than they met Misty and despite the bumpy start, they have become good friends, although they can fight like siblings at times. Next came Brock who was a Arceus-send. Before he came along, the group was barely surviving eating nothing but sandwiches. Although Brock changed all that and took care of them, even teaching Serena to cook. Finally, his real brother, Drake. The latest addition to the travelling group and while not always seeing eye to eye, he is trying to learn and teach Ash like he said so maybe this journey is just what the brothers need.

"Well guys, are you ready to go?" Ash asked.

"I am." Serena replied as she interlocked her hand with Ash's.

"Sure." Drake replied with a shoulder shrug.

"Me too." Misty added.

"Actually guys, I've decided to stay here." Brock replied as he stopped in front of the house.

The group let out a collective gasp at what Brock was saying. They know him well enough to know he wouldn't sugar coat or joke about a situation like this, even when treating an injury in the group he would be straight forward even if he wasn't sure about the matter. Sill, none of them expected this. It was clear that Brock was interested in Professor Ivy but that wouldn't be his only reason for wanting to stay, is it?

"You're serious Brock..." Misty muttered. "You really want to stay?".

"I am... Remember that I want to become the best breeder, and while travelling is great. I won't be able to find a place like this again. All the Pokemon here are amazing is an opportunity that I can't miss out on." Brock explained.

"But that's not everything... Is it?" Drake asked being the only one to not have watery eyes.

"Huh, no its not." Brock chuckled lightly before having a completely straight face. "These guys need me. Professor Ivy, Charity, Hope and Faith. You guys saw their house and none of them know how to cook properly. In all honesty, they remind me of my family back in Pewter. These guys need me a whole lot more than you guys do.".

"... Brock." Ash muttered sadly.

"Come on Ash, you guys don't need me around." Brock reassured. "You've grown up a lot since you were the little kid with a Pikachu who battled the Pewter Gym. Not to mention Serena is becoming quite a cook and Drake is as knowledgeable if not more so on any subject I could help you with... You'll be fine.".

"I know Brock, it's just that I've really enjoy you travelling with us..." Ash replied as the tears finally escaped his eyes and ran down his cheek.

"It will be really weird not having you around, Brock." Misty took over. "You're like our big brother.".

"I know it feels kind of sudden but when you know where you belong, you just know." Brock replied. "I love it here, and so do my Pokemon.". Looking at the lab they noticed several of Brock's Pokemon interacting with the other Pokemon. Even the normally shy Diglett is interacting with some of the labs ground types.

The group realised that this isn't just some sort of crush endued decision and Brock truly feels like this is the best thing for him. He can't just leave a family in need and he will have the perfect chance to perfect his breeding skills. If this is what Brock truly wanted than they would support him.

"Well Brock, if this is what you truly want than we will support you." Serena told the Pokemon breeder as she tried and failed to stop her tears. "I guess this is good bye.".

"Hey, we will see each other again." Brock reassured. "You can always visit here, or maybe I'll drop by. I'll still visit Pewter from time to time.".

"Than it's not goodbye." Ash replied as he dried his eyes before holding his hand out. "It's just... Until we meet again, Brock.".

"... Until we meet again." Brock accepted the gesture.

"Until we meet again." Misty repeated trying to deal with her own tears.

The group just stood there neither side wanting to leave. In the end, Drake checked his Pokegear and sighed. He hates to spoil the moment but from what he read they need to leave now.

"I hate to break this up but if we want to make it your first gym then we need to leave now." Drake told his brother. "We have to get three boats today and the first one leaves in half an hour.".

"Right..." Ash replied before turning back to Brock. "Well Brock, it's been fun. We'll catch ya later.". Brock smiled as the group turned around and started to walk away.

"Goodbye guys! Make sure you don't forget me, won't ya!" Brock shouted.

"We could never forget you, Brock!" Ash shouted back.

As Brock lowered his hands now his friends were out of sight, he felt his own eyes which had tears also escape down his cheek. Quickly drying them he turned to see his new family stood at the front of the lab. This is the first day, of the rest of his lift...

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	5. The Lost Lapras

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the first of Ash's Orange Island Pokemon to join his team. Like with Pidgeot, I have already decided whether he will release her at the end of the arc and I won't spoil that final decision. I did want to get this chapter out before I left on my work trip but alas I couldn't. I like to keep my writing a head and so didn't want to make it so I am less than four chapters a head, in case I get writers block. As such this chapter is being released when I came back (which is now). Also, I have finally finalised what Johto's elite four will look like, obviously there is the typical: Will; Koga and Karen but both Bruno and Lance are a part of Kanto's elite four so I need replacements. Both are real characters (not OC's) and as a hint, the final elite four member will specialise in Fairy type Pokemon while the champion will have a multi-type team, and I will say no to any and all guess until the time comes to reveal said characters. Question time:_**

 ** _Ahron756:_**

 ** _Q) You said Ash and his friends will use Mega Evolution in Hoenn, does this mean Ash could get Mega Charizard X or Mega Charizard Y, Mega Sceptile or Mega Gyarados?_**

 ** _A) They are all possibilities I just won't spoil which ones will appear. Brock will probably only use a Mega Steelix while Ash and Serena will get one mega per region (not including OI). Also, they won't use every mega straight away as it is something which needs to be mastered and not just happen. As for Misty; May; Dawn Iris ext. The won't get key stones in their respective regions as they are things meant to be earnt. I will say, out of that list at least one of your named mega's will be used by Ash. Plus, Ash's Kanto mega already has his mega stone while Serena's Kanto mega will be getting its mega stone soon._**

 ** _Remember to vote in the poll, it will change when Ash's first Orange Island league gym battle and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 5: The Lost Lapras_

"Well, now what do we do?" Serena asked.

The group just got of their second boat onto Tangelo island. Unfortunately, they missed the first boat of Valencia which meant they also missed the last boat to Mikan Island which is where the closest Orange League gym is. Meaning they are stuck here until they can catch the boat tomorrow.

"I told you, we are stuck on this island until tomorrow which is when the next boat ride to Tangelo Island is." Drake explained. "Since we missed the first boat we wouldn't have made it there in one day.".

"Then why don't we spend the day at the beach." Misty suggested.

"Good idea, Misty. I bet our Pokemon could really use a day to relax." Serena replied.

"But... I wanted to get some training in for the gym battle." Ash replied

"I'm with Ash." Drake added. "We couldn't do any sort of training on the boat here.".

The two brothers were looking at the two girls who had their hands on their hips and staring the boys down. Both of them sweat dropped as they felt the two girls tower over them.

"Um Drake. Something tells me we're out numbered." Ash whispered to his brother.

"But there's two of them and two of us... How can they out number us?" Drake asked.

"Because we're right, so that means were going to the beach." Misty replied in a smug tone.

"Fine..." The twins sighed in defeat.

"But first we should find the Pokemon centre." Drake stopped the girls who were heading towards the beaches. "Unless you want to sleep outside tonight.". The girls knew he was right and they walked off to find the Pokemon centre.

Although Drake was in the back of the group, with his head was in his Pokegear, it is clear that he is the one the others are following. At one point, they turned off and noticed Drake continued down the path. Since he is the one with the map, they knew he was heading the right way and they rushed to catch up.

* * *

It turns out that the island they were on is very similar to Cinnebar back in Kanto. It is highly populated and has a lot of attractions to accommodate them. The streets are filled with different shops; food stands and arcades. The beaches are miles long and filled with people enjoying them. There is even a big theme park advertised all over the island. While it would be nice to go to it, they don't really have the time or the money to go. That is the great thing about the beach, it's free.

It took the group about half an hour to reach the Pokemon Centre but good thing is there is a less crowded beach right across from it so they don't have far to travel, and because no-one else is there they will have more than enough room for their Pokemon. Once they had the room key from Nurse Joy (sharing a room since they have four beds in a room) the group headed over to the beach.

Upon arriving, they found a shack for them to change. Take it in turns the group changed into their swim suits. Once they were all changed they stood on the beach and threw their Pokeballs up in the air.

"Come on out, everyone!" Ash shouted.

"You too, guys!" Serena shouted.

"We have a beach day!" Misty shouted.

Drake didn't feel the need to shouted anything and just released his five Pokemon by hand. Soon the Pokemon group consisting of: Pikachu; Pidgeot; Ivysaur; Wartortle; Gyarados; Primeape; Tangela; Seadra; Eevee; Kangashkan; Seel; Kabuto; Tentacruel; Kingler; Psyduck; Vaporeon; Shelder; Poliwag; Charizard; Jolteon; Starmie; Victreebel; Cubone and Snorlax stood in front of the four trainers. Of course, Pikachu and Cubone were out of there Pokeballs anyway and just joined their team mates while Togepi stayed on Ash's shoulder (just like how his Uncle Pikachu travels).

"Guys, we're having a beach day so don't go too far and just enjoy yourself." Ash told the Pokemon.

Ash's; Serena's and Misty's Pokemon cheered before walking off to do their own thing. Pikachu; Eevee; Ivysaur and Tangela and found a beach ball and started a beach ball, playing a game of two-aside volley ball, boy's vs girls. Pidgeot took off and landed on top of the shack to over watch everyone and roost seeing as there aren't any trees around. Wartortle; Gyarados; Seadra; Seel; Tentacruel Kingler; Vaporeon all took off for the water. Misty set out her stuff to sunbath with Poliwag and Psyduck deciding to stand by her side. Kangashkan sat down to sunbath and let her baby out to explore. The baby went over to Primeape who was building a sand castle. Ash let Togepi down who went to join them. Despite Primeape's being known for being wild, Ash's has no problem playing with the babies.

"Urg!" Serena cried out as she was hit in the stomach with two sharp pincers. Sure enough, it was her Kabuto who was too shy to join the other Pokemon.

As soon as he heard Serena's groan of pain he back out on to her hand, looking down. Oh no, he did it again. He doesn't mean to hurt Serena but along with a select few of her Pokemon, she is the only one he is calm around. He really doesn't mean to hurt her.

"It's okay, Kabuto. I know you didn't mean to hurt me." Serena comforted her water rock type. "Why don't we go and help Primeape; Roo and Togepi with building their sand castle?".

Kabuto cooed under Serena's touch and nodded in agreement. While he hasn't spent any time with Ash's fighting type, Kangashkan is one of the few Pokemon he is comfortable with, and Roo of course. He hasn't spent much time with Togepi either but if Serena says their nice then they must be. Smiling at her timid fossil Pokemon, she walked over to the group of Pokemon building the sand castle.

"Um... What's wrong guys?" Drake asked his Pokemon who were still looking at him expectantly.

The Pokemon mumbled something to him which he couldn't understand. Truth is, they never have days off. Each day on their Kanto journey consisted of a morning training session; then travels and a night training session before bed. The only acceptations were days when they would challenge a gym.

"They asked what should they be working on." Ash translated.

"No guys, were not training. Today is just a day to relax and enjoy yourselves." Drake told his Pokemon. "No training.".

The Pokemon nodded still a little unsure but if Drake said it was just a day to relax than relax is what they will do. Charizard and Snorlax found an open area and lay down to enjoy the sun. Starmie took off for the water while Jolteon just enjoyed a run around the place. While Victreebel seemed to hope away with a mischievous smile on his face, who can he prank first? Cubone went over to see if he could join in the Volley ball game.

Misty was lying on a beach towel with her Poliwag curled up by her head. That was, until her Psyduck came up to her and blocked the sun with his plump yellow round body. Misty tried to just ignore him, until he started to poke her with his bill to get her attention.

"What's up, Psyduck?" Misty asked her duck pokemon in a slightly irritated tone. She is trying her best to control her anger but this is testing her patients. All she wants to do is enjoy the sun. She doesn't mind if her Pokemon want to stay with her like her Poliwag or go and do their own thing like her other Pokemon.

"Psy aye aye?" Psyduck asked as he motioned towards the group of Pokemon playing volley ball.

"Sure, go right ahead and play with them." Misty sighed. All he wanted to know was if he could go and play with the other Pokemon. She told them to go and have fun. Misty couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his head sometimes.

"Duck." Psyduck nodded before waddling off towards the group of five Pokemon.

Upon arriving he waved innocently to the five Pokemon. Currently, the group were deciding which team Cubone should join seeing as they each have two aside. Now that Psyduck is joining in, they can make each team three aside.

"Okay Cubone, you can join us." Eevee told the ground type.

"Wait, why do you get Cubone?" Pikachu asked. Eevee walked up to him and pecked his nose.

"Because Pika, I'm your girlfriend. Silly." Eevee told the electric type.

"Hold on Pikachu. Remember what Wartortle says." Ivysaur stepped forward. "Bros before...". Ivysaur was cut off as Pikachu covered his friend's mouth, there are something a Mon's girlfriend don't need to hear.

"Bros before what? Ivysaur?" Eevee asked in a sweet tone which had a threating underline. She isn't stupid and knows exactly what that turtle would tell them. Ivysaur also sweat dropped as an annoyed looking Tangela stood by Eevee.

"Bros before... Everything except for beautiful princess' that we would do anything for." Pikachu hastily replied.

Eevee got right into her boyfriend's face and narrowed her eyes. The sweat drop on the two male Pokemon's heads just seemed to grow as the evolution Pokemon seemed to stare directly into their skulls.

"Nice save..." Eevee muttered before the trio of Eevee; Tangela and Cubone entered a stance to restart the game of volley ball. Pikachu shot Ivysaur an annoyed look for almost getting him in trouble with Eevee. With a sigh, Psyduck joined Ash's two Pokemon before the Volley ball game restarted with the two new players.

From a safe distance away, a certain grass poison type from Drake's team saw the game. It doesn't seem fair that the boys have that derpy duck on their team. Maybe he should even the score up a bit but before that, he is going to need help. He heard that turtle in shades can also be quite the prankster, he will do.

Stepping up to the water the twins looked out over their water types. Namely Starmie and Gyarados. Ash smiled as he saw his water flying type who wasted no time in greeting his trainer with the usual affectionate lick. After about a minute he let up. Drake rolled his eyes at his brother before asking his question.

"So, what are we going to do?" Drake asked.

"What do you mean? We're going to play with our Pokemon." Ash replied. Seeing his brothers confused faced he sweat dropped. "You've never played with your Pokemon have you?".

"Nope... What are we supposed to do?" Drake replied.

"Just go to them and have fun." Ash replied.

"My idea of fun is reading a book with a cup of tea." Drake replied.

"Just go and swim with Starmie... You might find something out which'll help you use it in battle." Ash replied.

"What could I possibly learn from playing that I couldn't learn in a book?" Drake asked.

"Little quirks that are unique to your Pokemon." Ash replied. "Or did you forget how my Muk beat your Mr Mime in the league?".

Yeah, that was definitely one of his worse battles. He didn't realise his Mr Mime would prefer cleaning over battling, which is the reason he handed him over to his mother since that is where he would be happiest. Ash, on the other hand, realised that and tired Mr Mime out by having Muk create a giant mess.

"... Fine." Drake sighed. "What are we meant to play?".

"That is up to you two." Ash replied. "Maybe just start by swimming together.".

Before Drake could respond, Ash had run out into the sea and started swimming next to his Gyarados. Drake couldn't help but chuckle at the giant smile on the atrocious Pokemon's face, seeing as he is so close to Ash he can't help but wonder what he would do if someone tried to hurt him. Gyarados are known to be deadly.

With a sigh, he walked into the water and started to swim towards his Starmie who was lay on its back as it just floated in the water in a pretty relaxed fashion. It can't be too hard to play with his Pokemon, can it? Upon seeing its trainer approaching, Starmie stood up like he was ready to battle.

"Relax Starmie, I just wanted to spend time with ya." Drake told his water psychic type. Starmie nodded its front pointer and visibly relaxed. "So, what do you want to do? Ash suggested we swim or play something.".

Starmie moved two of his pointers in a manner which was like a shoulder shrug. Drake could tell that his Starmie wasn't too into that idea. Now that he thinks about it, his Pokedex mentioned his Starmie had a calm nature. Even though it trains hard, it is usually the first to relax. Maybe it isn't interested in playing.

"Do you just want to relax and enjoy the sun?" Drake suggested.

Starmie nodded its top pointer again to show it agreed with that idea. Starmie lay back on its back as its hold body seemed to come loose. Drake just stared at confusion. Well, if Starmie doesn't want to do what Ash suggested maybe he should just go and do his own thing or maybe play with another Pokemon. Cubone seems to be playing Volley ball with several other Pokemon. No, he joined this group so he could bond with all his Pokemon not just Cubone.

Looking back, he noticed how loose and relaxed his Starmie is. Weird, Starmie's normally have pretty tense bodies which means they get badly affected by moves like Wrap or Bind. With its body, so loose he wouldn't be surprised if Starmie could easily escape those traps... Hmm, maybe he will need to give it a try.

Looks like Ash was right, just by spending time with his Starmie he is noticing little quirks he can use. Well, might as well join Starmie. Drake lay on his back next to the Mysterious Pokemon and just floated. As weird as it sounds, just doing this with Starmie is making them feel closer.

Ash was sat on top of Gyarados getting ready to dive back into the water. He is only on the atrocious Pokemon because he started coughing and Gyarados wasn't going to risk anything with his beloved trainer. Ash smiled as he saw his brother, while it isn't playing it doesn't mean they aren't bonding. His Pidgeot has never been one for playing but he has still got a close bond with her so it doesn't really matter in the long run.

With the volley ball game, the team of: Pikachu; Ivysaur and Psyduck are losing pretty bad. Before the teams gained a third member the score was pretty even but Psyduck has done nothing but hold his head while that bone of Cubone's proving very effective. Sure, the fact that Ivysaur can use a lot more vines then Tangela has kept them in it so far but the two boys are getting tired.

Doing a spin in the air, Pikachu whacked the ball with his tail. It looked like the ball was going to score them a point to hopefully make a comeback, but soon they saw Cubone's bone heading towards it. The two females smirked as this would mean another point for them while Pikachu's and Ivysaur's face fell. They are both too tired to counter.

Suddenly, a water gun hit the Ball. Moving it out of the bone's path. Slamming down behind both Eevee and Tangela it scored the boys another point. They could actual make a comeback! Wait, where did that water gun come from? Looking towards the only water type in the vicinity, Psyduck was still holding his head. With the attention now on him, a cheesy grin grew on his face.

"Psy-Duck." Psyduck happily replied while flashing a V sign with his fingers. Did Psyduck really just pull of that move?

The five other Pokemon shrugged and returned to the game, it doesn't really matter if Psyduck did do that. He is part of the boy's team after all. Just why did it use that attack now? In the past, he has only used attacks when he has a headache, and then they are normally Psychic type moves like Confusion.

As the game continued, none of them noticed some snickers coming from behind the changing shack. Drake's Victreebel and Ash's Wartortle seemed to be the source of the snickers. Boy does it good to work together. It's like none of the others notice the joys of messing around and pranking others. These two can see a very enjoyable future working and pranking together.

* * *

After about an hour and a half the Volley ball game ended and the group decided to just enjoy the sun for a bit. Victreebel and Wartortle changed their target to an orange-haired water type trainer who is far too relaxed.

While Ash is still playing with his Gyarados, even since he had that dream where Gyarados was missing from the group of his Pokemon it has been playing on his mind so he wants to keep the water flying type close. Of course, he won't just ignore his other Pokemon.

As the two were swimming (Gyarados going a lot slower so he could get Ash in case something happened) an echoie cry could be heard. It sounds like a young being but since both of them understand a Pokemon's native tongue it is hard to tell whether the source is human or Pokemon.

"You heard it too, buddy?" Ash asked his atrocious Pokemon who nodded in response. "Alright, stay close but out of sight. If they are hurt or scared, I'm guessing seeing a Gyarados won't help.".

"Gotcha." Gyarados replied. He dived under the water and out of sight. While he is one of Ash's friendlier Pokemon, it doesn't mean he can't live up to the atrocious species he belongs to. Of course, that side will come out if anyone threatens his beloved trainer.

Ash smiled before swimming towards the source. Even though he can't see Gyarados, he knows that he is close by and ready to help the moment he needs it. Ash noticed that he was heading towards another beach section which blocks off the beach they started on because of some massive rocks.

As she watched Gyarados dive under water and her trainer swim towards another beach, Pidgeot took to the skies. She doesn't know what's going on but her curiosity is getting the better of her. She won't intervene unless she has too, she just wants to know what is happening. Drake also noticed what his brother was doing after hearing the same cries and returned to the shore. Retrieving his Pokegear, hopefully he can get some first-hand footage to analysis and learn from.

Reaching the secluded beach, what Ash saw made his blood boil. A Lapras was lying on the beach, from the size it is obviously pretty young and the colour of its skin suggests that it isn't very well. While that is bad, the worst thing is three males surround the water ice type. One was sat on its neck like he wants a piggy back ride, with brown hair and an open Hawaiian shirt.

The next two have green spiky hair and a plain white shirt with a bandanna stood in front of the poor Pokemon using sticks to poke and hit the transport Pokemon. Ash quickly and angrily made his way over as Drake appeared on a rock and started to film the situation with his Pokegear.

"Hey! Leave Lapras alone!" Ash shouted as he stood in front of the group.

"Looky at what we have hear boys." The brown hair boy chuckled as he jumped of the whimpering water ice type.

"You outta butt out of other people's business." The blue shirt boy told Ash in a threating voice. Standing to the left of the other boy.

"Yeah, we're going to use this Lapras to conquer the Orange League and prove what a joke it is." The green haired boy added as he joined the boys standing at the far right. The middle boy who seems to be the leader whacked the back of the green haired boy's head.

"Don't tell him that, you idiot." The leader scolded.

"If you think the orange league would accept people like you than you must be stupid." Ash replied. "Everyone knows you only get in by bonding with Pokemon, not abusing them.".

"Huh, what would you know about it?" The leader asked as all three boys grabbed a Pokeball. "We might just have to teach you a lesson about messing with us.".

In a flash of light three Pokemon appeared in front of Ash. A Hitmonchan, a Spearow and a Beedrill. Ash didn't even flinch, if these boys just threatened him than they will learn why it is a bad idea in: three, two, one...

"NO, YOU WON'T!" Gyarados roared as he leaped out of the water and leaded in between Ash and the Pokemon who seemed to shrink at the appearance of the atrocious Pokemon.

"Aqua Tail, please." Ash requested calmly and politely.

Gyarados roared loudly as he lifted his tail into the air. It became surrounded in water before swiping it across the three Pokemon. After the attack, the three Pokemon appeared in a pile with swirls in their eyes before being returned.

"We need to get outta here, boys." The leader said in a panick. The other two nodded their heads before they tried to make a run for it.

"Stop them, Gyarados!" Ash shouted as he took off towards the Lapras who had passed out at some point.

Gyarados swung his tail and blocked off their path before bringing his head dangerously close to the boys. He opened his mouth with a threating growl before licking his sharp fangs. Lucky, they got the warning and sat down without a sound. Gyarados smirked before turning back to his trainer.

"What are we going to do with them?" Gyarados asked. Hoping he can truly teach them a lesson for threating his beloved trainer.

"They abused Lapras, Gyarados. We're going to hand them over to Officer Jenny." Ash replied. "Could you keep an eye on them while I look at Lapras, once it's safe we can figure out a way to get Officer Jenny here.". Gyarados nodded and lay in a circle, lying his head on his tail fins. The boys were on the inside of the circle and figured that if they even made a sound then... They just shouldn't.

"No need for that." A female voice appeared. Looking towards the source they found Ash's Pidgeot landed in front of him. Soon, a motorbike with red and blue flashing lights appeared with Officer Jenny being the driver who walked up to the group.

"Pidgeot? What did you do?" Ash asked his female bird.

"I saw them threaten you, and Gyarados leap into action. Knowing what would happen, I went to find the police." Pidgeot explained. "Although, I am surprised they still have their heads. I'm guessing Gyarados held back.".

"Um, mind explaining what's going on?" Officer Jenny asked Ash.

"Oh right. Well, I was playing in the water with my Pokemon when we heard a cry for help. Lapras was the source of that sound." Ash explained. "Anyway, coming to investigate, I found those three abusing Lapras riding it and hitting it with sticks. When I tried to stop them, they sent out there Pokemon to battle so my Gyarados defeated them.".

Gyarados had stood back up and instructed the boys to do the same. The three scared boys stood by Officer Jenny. "What do you three have to say for yourselves?".

"I-it's a lie. He defeats us when we found him doing that stuff to Lapras." The head boy accused. Gyarados brought his head towards the boy who just accused his trainer of such a horrendous act. He let out a low and threatening growl. "Eep!". The head boy jumped in to Officer Jenny's arms with that squeal of fear.

"Their lying. And here's the proof." Drake announced as he walked up to the group. Holding his Pokegear out. "I filmed the whole thing, sound included.".

"There's no need for that." Officer Jenny told Drake before dropping the boy who jumped into her arms. She turned to the trio with hard glares. "Did you three honestly believe I would believe that story. Seriously, who would believe a competing trainer in the orange League would abuse Pokemon over three punks who have already been cautioned for Pokemon abuse.".

"What! Your competing in the Orange League!" The punks exclaimed in unison.

"Um, how do you know that Officer Jenny?" Ash asked a little embarrassed.

"I watched the induction ceremony on TV. I know all the facing of competing trainers, both present and past." Officer Jenny replied. "All of the Officer's in the Orange Archipelago do.".

"Oh wow." Ash muttered in shock. He then looked back at Lapras who looked even paler. "Oh no, Lapras.".

"We need to get her some water." Drake told his brother. "She's drying out, and we can't put her back in the sea whilst unconscious.".

"I'll go and get Nurse Joy. I've called for a car to pick these three up but right now Lapras is the priority." Officer Jenny told the twins who nodded in reply.

"Gyarados, can you watch them until the Police car arrives?" Ash asked his water flying type. Gyarados smirked and nodded his head. Wrapping his tail around them he glared down at them in a threating nature. So, they wanted to make his trainer out to be a bad person, did they? They shouldn't have tried that.

Pidgeot sighed, she likes Ash as much as his next mon (Sandslash excluded) but Gyarados takes it too a whole different level. Even though, Muk is also openly affectionate the main difference is Muk is friendly to everyone while Gyarados is only affectionate towards Ash. There is that theory that a Gyarados' aggressive nature comes from being put down as a Magikarp. Guess they know what happens when a Magikarp is treated well. She glided up to a post where she could watch the water flying type watch the three boys. Just to make sure he didn't go overboard with them.

As Officer Jenny ran off to the nearby Pokemon Centre, the twins got to work to dehydrate the transport Pokemon. After a couple of trips with cupping the water in their hands Ash took his hat off and started to use that to carry water.

Lapras groaned as her eyes blinked awake with the refreshing feeling of water hitting its skin. Although her vision was blurred she could make out a human boy using his hat to provide this water. Of course, he is the same boy who tried to defend her from those other human's. While she is quite young and not the most trusting she can't help but feel a little secure with this boy. Even if she didn't, she is far too hurt to try and escape right now or fight him off. Closing her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep.

Soon Officer Jenny arrived with a stretcher and Nurse Joy. Nurse Joy brought a stretcher which is actually four times the size of a normal one. Although Lapras is small for its species, it is clear that it is still big in terms of size seeing as the species is pretty big as a whole. With much difficulty: Ash, Drake, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy worked together to get the transport Pokemon on it.

Nurse Joy went ahead and pushed the stretcher back. It was quite a surprise to see her push Lapras by herself. Ash wanted to go with them but he couldn't leave his Pokemon alone. Soon the Police car arrived and they loaded the three punks into it, although the leader seemed to be drenched while Gyarados wore a smug smirk, whatever he did to the punk seemed to have the desired effect.

With the punks taken away. The twins went and explained what happened to the two girls, once done they all collected there Pokemon before heading off to the Pokemon centre to check on the poor transport Pokemon.

* * *

"Don't worry Ash." Serena comforted her boyfriend. Currently, Ash is sat on a bench outside of the emergency room where Nurse Joy is working on Lapras. Togepi is taking a nap in his daddy's hands while Pikachu is talking with Cubone. Serena is sat next to him and rubbing his back in a comforting manner.

"Thanks Serena, but I can't help but feel like I let Lapras down." Ash groaned with his head down.

"And how do you work that out?" Serena asked in a stern tone. It isn't uncommon for Ash to blame himself but how can he possible think he let Lapras down? He is the one who saved Lapras.

"Because of my aura." Ash replied in a sad tone. "My dad is able to sense things miles away thanks to his and I didn't even know Lapras was nearby. Even when pouring water on Lapras, my dad has healed broken bones without a problem and Lapras is in here... Sometimes I think this aura is more of a curse.".

"And your only eleven years old." Serena replied. "Your dad has been trained to use his aura for all that stuff and you haven't long even known you have aura abilities. You can't blame yourself because you did all you could to help her.".

"Hmm... Still Serena, the one time it activates it took over my body and it is supposed to be there to help people yet it only seems to cause pain." Ash replied. "Why did I have to be the one stuck with it? All its done is cause pain.".

"That's not true." Serena tried to comfort.

"Yes, it is." Ash sighed. "It is because of my aura that those grunts got crippled. It is because of my aura that Drake wouldn't even speak to me and today I couldn't even help Lapras with it.".

"You only attacked those grunts because they kidnapped everyone... And they were going to..." Serena replied with watery eyes as she couldn't bring herself to relive that memory. "Your aura protected everyone and while it may seem like a curse, but once you've learned to control it than it will be different.".

"How can you be so sure?" Ash asked. "Not everyone aura user becomes a fully-fledged guardian and even if I do... What about the time before I am trained? I need to wait until a Riolu that is destined is born to teach me... Even then, I'll need to evolve him and I don't even know if I can do that.".

"Stop it!" Serena shouted at her boyfriend. She seriously can't stand his self-moping. "Look Ash, you'll be fine. Your aura only activated because of Team Rocket, now that they are gone it likely won't even show up again. Even if it does, it only to enact your will. If it was down to the aura itself than it might not have saved me from those grunts in Silph Co. And about Riolu, when it shows you will be a great trainer for it just like you are for all your other Pokemon. You wouldn't be competing in the Orange League if you weren't capable.".

"Hmm... Thanks Serena." Ash replied after a moments silence. "The truth is... I just wish Drake had been the one given aura and anytime something happens it will always be on my mind about whether or not things would be different if I could use my aura.".

"I know what that's like." Serena admitted. "It is the same with my psychic powers. And according to your dad I need to learn to use my abilities from within... At least you will have a Lucario to help you with your aura when that time comes.".

"Huh, guess until than we are in the same boat." Ash let out a light chuckle. "Still, you could always see if your Kadabra could help you out since he is a psychic type.".

"Good idea Ash, I might need to make a team rotation soon." Serena replied.

"I think I am going to wait until after the first gym battle. Pidgeot, Primeape and Gyarados have been really looking forward to participating." Ash explained.

"Just remember, they say that the Orange gyms aren't like..." Serena started to inform but she cut herself off as she spotted someone leave the corridor.

"Serena. What's wrong?" Ash asked.

"Drake... He was listening to the whole conversation." Serena replied. "So, he...".

"So, he heard me say I wished he got the aura powers." Ash finished her sentiment. He sighed as he stood up before looking at the emergency door once more. "I'm gonna find him... Nurse Joy is still going to be with Lapras for a while.".

"Okay Ash... Do you want me to take Togepi?" Serena offered gesturing to the snoozing fairy type.

"Thanks Serena..." Ash replied as he handed the young mon to his girlfriend. Although he stirred while being passed across, he didn't wake up. Ash shot Serena a grateful smile before making his way after his brother. While he would've liked to stay and wait to see Lapras, he knows it is unlikely that anyone will be allowed to see the transport Pokemon before tomorrow morning.

* * *

Stood at the edge of the beach where Lapras was found, Drake was watching the sunset. With all the commotion in dealing with the thugs and helping Lapras, a lot of time passed. Of course, they didn't exactly arrive on the island early either. Still, it is a beautiful sight. In truth, Drake has always enjoyed watching both the sunset and sunrise while on his journey. It is just relaxing.

Drake sighed as he closed his eyes. Ash wished he had the family aura rather than himself. If that happened what else would change? Would he be the one competing in the Orange League? Would his and Ash Pokemon be switched around? Would he be dating Serena instead?... Urg, no. No matter what changes Drake can't see himself in that sort of relationship at all. Still, this is all hypothetical since there is no way to change which one of them has the aura abilities.

"Um... Hey Drake." A voice appeared behind the oldest twin. Drake didn't need to open his eyes or even turn around to see who it was. He can easily tell who it was by their voice alone although it only made sense that he would be the one to come after him.

"Ash." Drake replied as he looked back at the sunset.

Ash took his brothers tone with a sense of uneasiness since it was monotone. Drake has never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve but that does make things easy for Ash. He knows Drake heard him but what is he thinking? Does he also wish he has the aura? Is he insulted at the prospect since Ash called it curse?

"Beautiful... Isn't it?" Drake asked although it sounded more like a statement. Ash looked at his brother with a questioning gaze but Drake still failed to turn to look back at his brother. "The sunset, I mean.".

"Oh... Yeah, it is..." Ash muttered as he moved to his brother's side. In truth, he hadn't even looked at the sight before this point he was more focused on what his brother could possibly be thinking but that clearly hasn't been working. Although now that he has a chance, he can't help but smile at the scenery in front of him.

"So... You want me to have the aura instead of you?" Drake asked with a sigh.

"Um, I guess." Ash replied shyly still unable to read his brothers thoughts. "Look Drake I didn't mean...".

"Why?" Drake cut his brother off. Finally turning to face his twin.

"Well... This aura has only seemed to cause pain. To you especially." Ash replied bashfully. Drake nodded in response to encourage Ash to continue. "Plus, your smarter when it comes to this sort of thing.".

"Mystical powers believed to exist in fairy tales aren't exactly my speciality." Drake replied. Ash let out an amused smile at his brother's statement, that is probably the closest Drake can get to cracking a joke.

"I meant that you are always in more control. You always have everything planned out." Ash explained. "Plus, if you had the aura than it is you dad would've focused and we might be like real brothers.". Despite being on good terms, they still have the years apart to work through and that sort of relationship can't be pushed aside because they learned the truth, not matter how much both of them want to. Although they have been making great progress, just travelling together proves that.

"And what else would that change?" Drake asked.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"It's the Butterfree effect, Ash." Drake sighed. "A theory which says you can't change one detail and expect the same results. If we changed which one of us has aura, then chances are other things will change. In all honesty, things could be completely switched around. Even our current Pokemon.".

"Hmm..." Ash replied thoughtfully. That actually does make a lot of sense, it is like in a Pokemon battle each move is important and changing one move could change the outcome of a battle. It just makes sense that everything is like that.

"Look Ash, I'm not mad at what you said." Drake informed. "Everyone has somethings they wish they could change, it's just that changing those things could cause unknown effects. I know I wish I could change my behaviour for all of those years. You just have to move forward with what has happened.".

"Your right." Ash replied with an amused smile. "Ya know, it's funny. Sometimes your wise among your years.".

"Said the one who had a girlfriend at the age of six." Drake replied also with an amused smile.

"I have only been dating Serena a little before our eleventh birthday." Ash looked at his brother with confusion.

"Huh, and with the way she would follow you around it was pretty clear that you two would end up together." Drake replied with what seemed to be a chuckle. "Of course, even a blind man could see that.".

"Shut up." Ash groaned as he light pushed his brothers shoulder. "Besides, you could get a girlfriend too. Leaf is always available.". While Ash chuckled at teasing his brother, Drake just looked mortified. Almost like Mewtwo was behind Ash ready to launch another attack at them both.

"Don't even joke about something like that." Drake replied deadly serious. Ash stopped his chuckling as for the first time in probably forever, he saw his brother was stiff with fear. "She is... Scary, Ash. Just... Scary.".

With that, the two brothers made their way back to the Pokemon Centre. Once inside, Serena and Togepi greeted Ash with a hug before informing him that Nurse Joy had finished working on Lapras but the transport Pokemon was currently resting so they couldn't see her until the morning. Pikachu took his normal spot on Ash's shoulder while Cubone jumped onto Drake's head. With it getting late, the group found Misty before they ate tea and heading off to bed.

* * *

"Nurse Joy, how's Lapras?" Ash asked in a panick. The group had not long gotten out of bed and despite Togepi drinking a warm bottle of milk, they haven't even gone for breakfast yet. This just goes to show how worried Ash is for the water ice type, he has pushed a meal aside to see the poor Mon after all.

"Lapras is just fine, physically." Nurse Joy replied with a typical friendly smile. "But she is quite young and is very scared. She is swimming in the outside pool to try and relax her, but she is still very timid.".

"Can we see her, please?" Ash asked.

"Of course." Nurse Joy smiled. "But I must warn you to approach carefully. She is still a wild Pokemon and very on edge at that. She might attack if she feels threatened but I must ask you not to battle back, she isn't in a state to properly defend herself.".

"Okay Nurse Joy, we understand." Ash replied. Considering Lapras is quite young, an infant, it is understandable that she wouldn't be too trusting of humans. Especially after how those thugs treated her.

"Oh, and I had a message left from Officer Jenny. Since this was the third case involving those three who hurt Lapras, they have been locked away." Nurse Joy informed. "The leader has five years in prison while the other two each got three years since they were only following his orders.".

"They should be locked up and have the key thrown away." Drake mumbled. While he isn't able to properly bond with his Pokemon, other than Cubone. He has never and would never treat a Pokemon like those three did yesterday. It's only a matter of time before they are back onto the streets doing it to another Pokemon.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Ash thanked while a bow of respect. Although he heard what Drake said, and to a degree agrees with it, he hopes Nurse Joy didn't hear it as she has probably dealt with much worse cases than this. Hell, even Damien got eight years for the abuse he put all his Pokemon through.

With the new information, the group consisting of: Ash, Serena, Misty, Drake, Pikachu, Togepi and Cubone made their way to the outside pool. Upon arriving they found no other person or Pokemon present except for Lapras. Once the transport Pokemon saw the group, she swam to the furthest corner of the pool in an attempt to escape. She doesn't want to deal with these humans right now. She has to get back to her family but while stuck in this small pool, that isn't going to happen.

"Poor Lapras..." Misty mumbled.

"She looks so scared." Serena also mumbled.

"And we know who to thank for that." Drake added as he clenched his fist.

"Serena... Can you hold Togepi for me?" Ash asked.

"Um, sure Ash." Serena replied before taking Togepi who just finished his bottle of warm milk. Ash only asked Serena since she is the only other one in the current group he is comfortable with. "But why?".

"Look at Lapras... She is terrified of us." Ash explained. "Not that I blame her, after how she was treated but I need to show her not all humans are like those thugs from yesterday. But if we all approach her than she might feel intimidated and threatened.".

"Maybe I should do it Ash." Misty suggested. "Water Pokemon are my speciality.".

"But Lapras is also part ice type. I agree that Ash should do it." Drake interjected. Seeing as the two girls and his brother were looking expectantly, Drake decided to expand upon it. "Look, Lapras is an infant. Ash has the most experience dealing with young Pokemon thanks to his time with Togepi. Plus, it was Ash who stood up for Lapras yesterday. If Lapras will feel comfortable around any of us, it is him.".

"... Fine." Misty sighed in defeat. She has seen her mother's old Lapras at the gym but never battled with it. Of course, she isn't exactly a gym Pokemon seeing as her mother was more of a performer like her sisters. When she takes over as gym leader she will probably get to use some of her father's old Pokemon for the gym battles but in all honesty, she is hoping her own team will be strong enough to handle most challengers. Then again, all her new Pokemon will need to be assessed to see what level of badge she can use them in.

Ash shot her a grateful smile before turning around to the transport Pokemon, he Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder and walked by his side as Ash started to approach the infant Pokemon. What confused Ash was Lapras was looking back at him, not with a look of fear but one of curiosity. She can remember he was the boy who helped her yesterday. Along with that scary snake which jumped out of the water. Even when they were sorted with, she can remember seeing him using his hat to carry water to re-hydrate her.

"Hello Lapras..." Ash called out to the water ice type.

"H-h-hello..." Lapras stuttered out in surprise. For a moment, Ash was surprised he could understand Lapras seeing as she is an infant and yet he can't understand Togepi yet. Although, his dad did say it was because Togepi is classified as a baby Pokemon which is why it needs to be taken care off like a real child.

"It's nice to meet you, Lapras." Ash informed as he sat on the side of the pool. Taking his shoes and socks off, rolling up his trousers he lightly kicked his legs in the water. Lapras saw this and visibly relaxed, he was close enough so they could talk but still at a safe distance for the infant. "My names Ash... And this is Pikachu.".

"Hiya." Pikachu waved in a friendly manner.

"A-Ash and Pikachu." Lapras repeated. She than looked over to the rest of the group before something caught her eye, she saw another boy who looked just like the boy in front of her, just wearing different clothes. This is freaking the infant out. "H-h-how can you be in t-two places at once?".

"Hehehe, ya see Lapras. That is my brother Drake. He was the one helping me pour water on you, yesterday." Ash explained with a light chuckle.

"B-brother." Lapras repeated as she relaxed again.

"Right..." Ash replied. "What about your family? You're really young, and I bet your mother and father are worried about you.".

Lapras looked down at that topic, while she wants to find her parents, she doesn't want to remember what happened that night. It was the worse day of her life and how this whole thing got started. Still, he did save her yesterday. She at least owes him an explanation.

"Um... We, got separated." Lapras started her story. "A few days ago, we were travelling across the ocean in our school when a human ship came after us. My dad, the leader of our group took us off course to avoid them but we were caught in a storm. Next thing I know, I'm lying on the beach when those three...".

"Don't worry about them, Lapras." Ash reassured. "Officer Jenny got in contact, they are going away so you won't have to see them again.".

"O-okay." Lapras replied.

Ash looked at the poor infant Pokemon with pity. She has no idea where her parents are and since they went off course, they can't even try to travel their normal paths. Like a lot of Pokemon, Lapras tend to move across open seas as they follow the seasons but even then. Lapras is very young, and probably doesn't even know what the normal routes are. Ash wants to help her but how? She is too young to be let out into the ocean by herself, she could get hurt again. And while she would be safe here, she won't be able to find her parents. If only they could travel with Lapras and keep her safe while she searches for her parents...

"Hey Lapras..." Ash spoke up grabbing the infant's full attention. "I want to help you find your parents.".

"Y-you do?" Lapras asked hopeful.

"Right." Ash replied. "But I can only think of one way to do that... I need to catch you.".

"W-what!" Lapras cried out.

"Please Lapras, hear me out." Ash requested as calm as possible.

Lapras was shaking from the prospect of being caught but seeing the concern on Ash's face made it think things through, this boy has only been nice to her so far, she should at least hear him out. Nodding her head, Ash decided to explain.

"Thank you, Lapras." Ash smiled at being given a chance to explain. "You see, while you're stuck in here. You don't have any chance to find your parents, they are in the ocean and Lapras are known to avoid populated islands. But if we let you back into the sea by yourself, then chances are you'll get hurt and end right back here anyway.".

Although Lapras didn't want to admit, this boy, Ash, is making a lot of sense. He has only tried to help her so far, and has more than proven that not all humans are bad. Then again, not all Lapras are the same. While she is a scared little girl, her father is big and powerful. She can only judge this boy of his actions and not those of the other humans she has encountered.

"Lapras. I only want to help you find you family. If you let me catch you in a Pokeball, I promise I will let you go the moment we find them." Ash promised. "Even if we don't and you want to go off on your own to find them, I will still let you go. I only want to help. You won't need to battle or preform in anything you don't want to." Ash offered. "Huh, plus you will have all of my friends and I to keep you company while we search.".

Lapras listened to the offer and noticed all eyes were staring directly at her. She can't stand all of the attention and quickly dived under the water to avoid being the centre of attention while she considers what's on offer. Everything this boy has said, makes sense plus he seems genuine. He has clearly proven he cares about her and she has no reason to distrust him after all he's done. In the end, she came to one conclusion... She wants to find her family and there is only one way to do that.

The group looked sad as Lapras disappeared out of sight. Is that her answer? Is she so distrusting of people that she would rather be stuck here than travel with them? Those stupid punks, if they didn't attack Lapras they could be able to help her right now. Just as Ash stood up seeing as Lapras made her decision, a splash of water soaked him through as Lapras remerged. The transport Pokemon shocked everyone as she started to nuzzle her head against Ash's stomach while crying.

"Hey, it's okay Lapras." Ash comforted as he rubbed her neck. "Just let it all out.". They were stuck in that position for a couple of moments before Lapras pulled away, she is an infant remember. Throughout this whole thing she has been trying to act tough but she just can't take it anymore.

"S-sorry." Lapras coughed as she tried to stem the tears she had released.

"It's okay, Lapras. I can't imagine how the must feel for you." Ash replied with a friendly smile. "So... Have you made your decision?".

"Yes... I would like to join you, please." Lapras replied getting quieter as the sentence went on. Ash smiled and pulled out a Pokeball, holding it in his hand Lapras approached and tapped her head against the button. The infant was sucked in before it dinged.

"I just caught, Lapras!" Ash shouted as he struck a pose while holding the Pokeball out. Pikachu jumped at his side while flashing a V sign. Suddenly, Ash's Pokedex started vibrating so he pulled the device out of his pocket.

"Please select which Pokemon you wish to send back." The device requested.

Right, this is one of the new features for the upgrade Professor Oak gave the Pokedexes. The screen came to light with the seven Pokemon Ash currently had on hand, Pikachu's picture was shaded out probably because he isn't in his Pokeball. Clicking Wartortle's picture, Ash felt the turtle Pokemon's Pokeball teleport of his belt. Well that is useful since he wouldn't want to send Lapras to the lab after the promise he made. He scanned the transport Pokemon with his Pokedex.

 _Lapras, The Transport Pokemon. These Pokémon were once near extinction due to poaching. Following protective regulations, there is now an overabundance of them. Its high intelligence enables it to comprehend human speech. When it's in a good mood, it sings in its beautiful voice._

 _Type: Water / Ice_

 _Ability: Water Absorb_

 _Hidden Ability: Hydration (Note: This hidden ability is currently locked)._

 _Gender: Female_

 _Nature: Gentle (Note: This nature is unlikely to change due to Lapras being fully evolved)_

 _Move(s): Water Gun; Sing; Growl; Mist; Confuse Ray; Ice Shard; Body Slam; Water Pulse_

* * *

With Lapras now on the team, until they can find her family, Ash decided to get changed. Once done the group ate a late breakfast where they introduced Lapras to the rest of the group. Although shy at first, Lapras opened up to Gyarados seeing as he was the one with Ash who protected. She also got along with the other water types on the team and the other humans seeing as Ash trusted them. Once they were ready, the group set off for the boat to Mikan Island.

"What are we going to do now?" Serena asked.

"We could wait until Monday for the next boat." Drake suggested.

"But I want to start challenging the Orange Crew." Ash cried. The group once again missed the last boat to Mikan Island and to make matters worse, the boats don't travel on weekends. Are they stuck here until Monday? Wait... "Lapras, I choose you!".

With an elegant cry, Lapras appeared in the sea near the group and smiled upon seeing her new trainer... Whoa, that is weird for the infant. She has always been told horror stories about humans but this boy proved them wrong. Sure, not all humans are nice but this boy is and it is thanks to him that she can search for her family.

"Lapras, would you mind if we rode on your back between islands?" Ash asked. "This way, we can search for your family while travelling.".

"Of course." Lapras cried before turning around to let everyone on.

She was picky and made sure Ash was the first one on so he was sat closest to her head. He helped Serena get on who was followed by Misty and Drake. Once everyone was on, they set off for Mikan Island. To everyone's surprise, Lapras was actually very comfortable despite her back shell looking rocky. This is arguably one relaxing time. Although Ash wasn't relaxing too much, soon he will be competing in his first gym battle to compete in the Orange League. Although he is excited, he isn't taking it lightly. Especially, since the Orange crew are rumoured to be the equivalent of elite four members so this won't be an easy ride.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	6. Ash VS Cissy: Unison

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the first of the Orange League gym battles. In all honesty, this is probably the gym that I have changed the most. It will be a five on five, competition and hopefully sets up how strong the Orange Crew are. In all honesty, I find the battles to be the most boring parts to write so much like the first type gyms in the anime, they won't be exactly be battles. I have changed a couple of things around from my original idea (mainly the fourth competition where Ash uses Tauros) it was going to be a jousting competition but it got pretty boring as I was writing it so I changed it when I was proof reading it (which is why this chapter took so long to come out). Question Time:_**

 ** _Guest_**

 ** _Q) How often you update and when do you usually update it? A) I don't have a set update schedule seeing as I know I won't stick to it. As for when I update, it is usually late at night but that can differ depending on your time zone._**

 ** _Q) Do you plan on having the crystal Onix join Ash's team? A) No._**

 ** _Q) Are you going to incorporate all the movies into your stories or just some? A) Some. I will have one Movie per arc but I will also do the specials i.e. The Legend of Thunder, in Johto. Also, I have my own story concerning the GS ball which will be like a movie arc but my own creation. In some way though, I will be showing every legendary in some way. You will know what the movie arcs are as they will consist of three chapters and have the same title of the movie (i.e. Mewtwo strikes back, Power of One)_**

 ** _Remember to vote in the poll, it has changed to see who you want to see in Ash's battle against Drake (not his brother), it will change when Serena catches her first Pokemon in the Orange Islands. Of course, I get the final choice and the Orange League will be made up of more than just that battle (just not as big as the Indigo League) so more than just six Pokemon will get to see some battling and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 6: Ash VS Cissy: Unison_

Travelling across the ocean is the group of four trainers and three Pokemon on the back of Lapras. Drake is talking with his Cubone while Misty is cuddling her Poliwag, Togepi is spending time with his Uncle Pikachu while Serena is reading a magazine about Pokemon Contests she picked up before they departed Tangelo Island. Ash is checking on his latest capture who just so happens to be the Lapras they are riding on.

"How are you holding up Lapras?" Ash asked as he rubbed her head. Lapras cooed under his touch with a gentle smile. They have been out in the water for a couple hours now and Lapras has been going at a decent speed, especially considering she is so young. Ash has been sure to keep her company and hasn't gone five minutes without checking on her. He really does care about her.

"I'm good, thank you." Lapras replied gratefully. Although one thought occurred to her while they were crossing the ocean, and up to this point she has been too shy to ask. No, Ash is a nice boy and he wouldn't mind. "But um... Can I ask you something?".

"Sure Lapras. Do you need a break?" Ash asked.

"No... but thank you for offering." Lapras replied. "I, was wondering... How can you understand me? I mean... I thought humans couldn't understand Pokemon. Sorry if I'm being rude.".

"Hehehe, don't worry about it. Since you're on my team, at least temporally you should know this." Ash told the transport Pokemon with a light chuckle. "You see, I have aura abilities. It means I can understand Pokemon.".

"Wow, you're an aura guardian like from the stories?" Lapras asked with excitement. While she was told about humans being nasty, her mother also told her bed time stories about special humans who can control aura and who aren't like other humans. She always thought they were a myth but her trainer is one.

"Not quite, Lapras. I'm too young to manipulate aura like a guardian but I am a user." Ash explained. "Understanding Pokemon speech is just a passive trait I've had from birth.".

"Still that is amazing." Lapras replied shyly before affectionately rubbing her head against his.

"Hehehe, guess it is." Ash laughed as he returned the affectionate gesture. While it might seem weird that Lapras went from being scared of people to being openly affectionate but it is only Ash she has fully opened up to and being an infant, she is affectionate by nature. Once finished nuzzling her trainer, Lapras turned back around and picked up the speed to make it to the next island.

"Hehehe, careful Ash. You almost fell off." Misty laughed. "While Lapras is fast, she doesn't have guard rails like boats do.".

"Huh, Lapras wouldn't let me fall of. Would ya?" Ash replied as he asked the water ice type. Lapras nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile Drake looked at Ash and Lapras and sighed before looking back at his ground type. Even after nearly three weeks since leaving Kanto, Cubone is the only one of his Pokemon he has bonded with and yet Ash just met Lapras but they already seem as close as he is to the lonely Pokemon. Will he ever be able to bond with his Pokemon or is this whole journey pointless?

No, it is understanding that his bonding with his current Pokemon is less than the bond between Ash and Lapras. He has travelled with his Pokemon across all of Kanto near enough so they are used to his tough nature with them. Seeing as they are fully matured in terms of age, it will be harder for them to change their current relationship, the only true test to see if he has changed will be catching and bonding with a new Pokemon later on in their journey.

"Laaaaa!" Lapras cried out causing everyone to look at her. She just made a cry to grab their attention and not really say anything which is why Ash couldn't translate it. Seeing as she has their attention she turned to Ash. "Mikan Island is nearby.".

"How can you tell, Lapras?" Ash asked. Looking off in that direction none of them can see any island.

"Lapras have superior sight to humans and other Pokemon." Lapras informed. Just as she finished talking, a silhouette of an island appeared. While it was still a fair distance away although with the speed Lapras was moving they would arrive before long.

"Awesome Lapras!" Ash praised. "Next stop, Mikan Island!". With the call made, Lapras let out another cry as she kicked into third gear. While she misses her mum and dad loads. At least she met Ash and the others who have promised to help her find them.

* * *

Upon making it to a beach on Mikan Island, the group got off Lapras. Ash had Togepi on one shoulder seeing as he wants to try travelling like his Uncle Pikachu does while Pikachu is on the other shoulder using his tail to keep the fairy type balanced. Ash smiled as he held up a Pokeball as he faced Lapras.

"Thanks for the awesome ride, Lapras. Take a nice, long rest." Ash told the infant as he recalled her to his Pokeball. He saw the water ice type smile as she was engulfed by the red light. Ash smiled at the ball before clipping it to his belt. " _I promise Lapras, I will do everything I can to reunite you with your family_.".

"Umm, that smells good." Misty exclaimed as she took in a big sniff of the air. The rest of the group also took in a big sniff as they too felt the delightful scent which is in the air.

"Your right, Misty." Serena added as she held her stomach in hunger. It is a little past lunch but the group haven't eaten since breakfast since they were on Lapras, needless to say it wasn't long before a stomach growled which belonged to Ash.

"Man, what I wouldn't do for some food right about now." Ash groaned.

"The smell is likely coming from a cafe not too far from here." Drake explained as he read his Pokegear. "According to this, the cafe has been running for fifty years and is the islands biggest attraction other than the gym.".

Looking around the island that is easy to believe. Unlike Tangelo Island which was highly populated and filled with life, this island is more nature filled with the only houses present being made out of wood like cabins and according to the Pokegear it is much smaller than Tangelo Island although that doesn't mean it is by any means small since it is still much bigger than Cinnebar Island back in Kanto.

"Well I say we go and try it out." Ash declared.

"Shouldn't we find the Pokemon Centre, first?" Serena asked.

"There next to each other." Drake informed. "So, we are heading that way, anyway.".

The group agreed to go and book a room at the Pokemon centre than enjoy a late lunch at the cafe which caught their noses. Setting off it was about a ten-minute walk to the Pokemon Centre which was fairly empty other than Nurse Joy and Chansey. After booking their room, the group left for the cafe.

It was fairly busy but the group was able to get a table. Once seated a waitress came over and took their order before bringing the drinks over. Ash and Serena each had juice while Misty had water and Drake had a cup of tea. Being the only one other than Brock to drink hot drinks, as well as his knowledge over a lot of subjects, Drake is arguably the most mature of the group, especially now that Brock has left.

As the group waited for their food, the restaurant seemed to empty out since the normal lunch time came to an end. It didn't take them long to bring out the food though, with Ash ordering a cheese burger and fries (plus a bottle of ketchup for Pikachu). Serena had a summer salad. Misty had some sort of sushi dish. Drake had a hot dog with fries. It also didn't take long for Ash to devour his meal.

"Man, that was good." Ash declared as he stretched in his seat. Serena rolled her eyes as she took another bite of her food. It is obvious by this point that Ash hasn't got the greatest table manners but that doesn't matter to her. It is just a part of who he is.

Drake, on the other hand just felt something hit the back of his head. Looking at what fell was a small wet piece of paper, a spit ball. A quick glance around the restaurant only showed the waitress who was behind the counter and on her Pokegear, and a boy and girl. The girl is older than the group, in her early twenties who was reading the bill. It is obvious who the culprit is, the boy. Seeing he is so young, too young to have his own Pokemon, he decided to leave it and have a quick word when they were leaving. Cubone, however had another idea. He doesn't like the idea of some kid disrespected his trainer.

Drake turned back to his meal, the boy smirked and loaded up another spit ball in his straw. Taking aim, Cubone saw his chance to get this boy back. As the spit ball was shot across the room, Cubone intercepted it with his bone which he threw across the room. It took out the projectile and continued towards the boy, whose eyes widened. He didn't have time to react before the bone hit his forehead with it also imprinting the spit ball it picked up right in the centre. The bone deflected back into the air before Cubone landed with a smirk. That should teach the boy for disrespecting his trainer. Drake wanted to scold his ground type but could help but feel happy that he did that for him.

"What's going on?" The girl at the table asked angrily. Drake stood up and approached the table with the others close behind.

"This boy was shooting spit balls. My Cubone stopped him, I was going to have a word before you left but that didn't happen." Drake explained bluntly.

The girl looked at the boy and held back a smirk, other than missing the typical Pikachu he looks like her next challenger. A quick glance behind him, show a boy who looked like the one in front of her but with the Pikachu. They are obviously related.

"No, I didn't, Cissy. I've just been sat here all along. He's lying." The boy retorted.

"My Cubone saw you. Plus, if you were sat in the seat properly, there is no way my Cubone could've made that mark with his bone seeing as it isn't a clear shot." Drake replied calmly. He pulled out a napkin which held the other spit ball. "Plus, other than you two and our group. The only other person is the waitress. Are you saying it was her?".

The girl identified as Cissy looked at the boy and stood up. She knew from the start that her brother was guilty, just the tone of his voice told her that but never has she or anyone else used such logic to catch him out. If this is what he can do, what is his twin capable off?

"Humph, whatever. This kid obviously sucks." The boy shrugged his shoulders before he flopped back into his seat with his back facing the group.

"That's enough, Senta. Apologies to these people." Cissy instructed.

"But Cissy..." The boy now known as Senta cried.

"No butts, except yours which is grounded for the next month." Cissy replied. "Now apologies.".

"Humph, sorry..." Senta mumbled in the least sincere tone possible.

"No problem." Drake replied.

"Now that that's sorted. The gym is North of here, walk into the forest about three miles." Cissy informed as she turned to Ash. "Make sure you bring a fast Pokemon to run across the ground. A large flying type and a large water type. A fighting type. And finally, a smaller Pokemon you can easily carry around.".

"Um, thanks. But how..." Ash went to ask but was cut off.

"Did I know that is what your here for?" Cissy finished the question. "All members of the Orange crew know who the competing trainers are. You're the one with the Gyarados, right?".

"Um, yes. I have a Gyarados." Ash replied. "But, does that mean you're the Mikan Gym leader?".

"That's right. I will be looking forward to your challenge tomorrow." Cissy replied as she went for the door with a sulking Senta in tow. She turned around to the group once more. "Ten, sharp.".

With the time set for Ash first Orange League gym battle, the group returned to their meal and once finished they went to the Pokemon Centre where Ash made a call to Professor Oak to rearrange his team. Once he was positive he had a Pokemon for each of the factors Cissy set up, he went outside to the battlefield and released his five Pokemon: Pikachu; Tauros; Pidgeot; Gyarados; and Primeape. He also has Lapras but she is still in her Pokeball. He is going to get in a little practise before the battle tomorrow.

* * *

It is currently five minutes to ten the next morning and the group had followed Cissy's directions. Needless to say, they weren't too impressed with what they found. In front of them is a cabin, not to different from the other houses they have seen on the island. Then again, the Pokemon centre was also made out of wood. It isn't that there is anything wrong with cabin's, but it is rather small, especially for a gym.

"This is the gym?" Ash questioned his brother who had his head in his Pokegear.

"If Cissy gave us the right info yesterday." Drake replied, putting his Pokegear away. "This is exactly three miles north of the Pokemon Cafe and Pokemon Centre.".

"Of course, I gave you the right information." Cissy's voice echoed as the front door to the cabin opened. Stood was Cissy not in the same clothes but more of a track suit which admittedly looked good on her. Behind her was Senta, as well. "You've arrived on time, impressive.".

"Of course." Ash replied taking offence. "This is my first gym I'm challenging for my chance to enter the Orange League.".

"Relax, I only said it because a lot of trainers like showing up fashionably late. Those trainers never earn a badge." Cissy reassured but soon a smirk took over her face. "I must say, this is either brave or stupid of you. Most trainers take me on last considering they seem me as the toughest of the Orange crew.".

"Someone's confident..." Drake muttered.

"I wish I could have some of that confidence." Misty replied in a hushed voice.

"For the first round, you need the little Pokemon you can carry." Cissy informed as she took her Pokeball out. "I'll go first. Go Oddish!". In a flash of light, the small grass poison type appeared on the ground. It gave a cute yawn before jumping onto Cissy's shoulder.

"Alright, well Pikachu your up first!" Ash declared. "I choose you!". Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and took a battle stance in front of Ash with the spark of his cheeks. The weird thing is, why did Cissy say Ash needed to carry Pikachu? How would that work in the battle.

"Tehehehe, you thought you'd be battling?" Senta asked with a mischievous smirk.

"What do you mean?" Drake asked.

"All competing trainers in the Orange League have proven they can battle since they would've needed to compete in at least one regional league." Cissy explained. "My gym instead makes the trainers work in unison with the Pokemon in a number of competitions.".

"Alright, so what's the first one?" Ash asked excited. While he was excited for a battle, that doesn't matter. A gym is a gym and he will still try his hardest and he knows his Pokemon will work just as hard.

"Enthusiasm, I like that." Cissy smirked. She pointed towards a nearby cliff. "You need to climb up there, while carrying your Pokemon. This is just the challenge, since all of the Orange Crew have one. But your Pokemon can't use any sort of moves.".

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Serena asked.

"Only if they fall." Senta snickered.

"Based on the height of the cliff, no permanent damage can be caused even if he fell from the top." Drake reassured. "There are no sharp rocks which stand out, but depending on the height, a broken bone could occur once he passes a certain height.".

"You're really not good at reassuring people." Serena deadpanned in response.

"You asked." Drake grumbled in return.

The two competitors made their way over to the base of the cliff, with Ash taking off his backpack and jacket. Although it isn't exactly tall, it is at least twenty feet in the air. Much taller than anything Ash has climbed in the path and it is step, meaning he has to climb and can't just walk up it. This isn't going to be easy.

* * *

 _Ash VS Cissy: (Round one: The Challenge)_

"Remember Ash, this isn't a race. All you need to do is make it to the top with Pikachu." Cissy informed as she started climbing the mountain. Looks like she isn't excused from the challenge either.

Ash gulped as he watched her go. Oddish was positioned on her head and giving off little cheers which seems to be encouraging her. Although she was moving so fast and with such position that it was like she knew this cliff like the back of her hand. She didn't hesitate as she moved from one rock to the other and didn't even seem to test if they were stable. Then again, considering how much she must have done this, it isn't really a surprise that she can do it.

Taking a deep breath, Ash reached up and grabbed the first rock. Okay, this seems stable. Hosting himself up, his foot naturally went for a small rock which was directly below it. Unfortunately, as Ash put his wait through it to let go, the rock crumbled and Ash fell on his behind. This is going to be much harder than it looks. The snickers from Pikachu who is on his shoulder doesn't help with that, either.

"Come on, Ash. This is only the start and by far the easiest part of the trail." Cissy informed. Ash couldn't help but feel like she was mocking him within the encouragement. That only fuelled his determination and he jumped right back to his feet.

Grabbing another rock with his hand, Ash lifted his foot up carefully and placed it on another rock. Once testing to make sure it was stable, he pulled himself up and used his other hand to reach for another rock. Despite how Cissy moved, his first experience proved to Ash that he shouldn't rush this challenge.

Going at a steady pace and checking each rock he considered using, it took about five minutes before Ash was half way. Looking down, Ash couldn't help but smile in excitement. When climbing it doesn't feel like you travel the distance you really do. If getting up to this point was this easy, then he has this challenge it the bag.

Although, looking he saw Cissy stood on the cliff side looking down at him with her arms crossed and a smirk crossed over her face. With his mind made up, Ash started to climb again. Of course, he was making sure to check each rock but he was moving much faster. Although tiring, it was also an invigorating experience and not one soon forgotten. At least it is only a cliff side, and not a whole mountain.

Nearing the top, Ash started to slow down. This is really starting to strain on his limbs and he will probably need a good rest after this. Pikachu had taken to sitting on Ash's head as Ash's arms were busy.

This however caused a little problem seeing as the top of the cliff was a grassy field. A single flower stuck out and because of their current position was directly next to Pikachu's nose. Unable to hold it in, the pollen forced a sneeze out of the electric type and forced him backwards due to the size of it. One would think Pikachu used roar if he could learn it.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried as he acted on instinct. One hand went up to grab him but missed as he started falling behind Ash. The hand instinctively grabbed onto the top of the cliff while Ash spun around. In one last effort to grab Pikachu, his second hand shot down and grabbed Pikachu's tail. "Arg!".

Well, this is painful. Despite Pikachu not being known for its weight, this is really testing Ash's endurance. His arms are being stretched out as for as possible with gravity working against him. Not to mention only one of his feet has any sort of rock underneath it so he can't exactly use the right now.

"You... Okay, buddy?" Ash asked as he grunted in pain.

"Um, yeah. I think so, anyway." Pikachu replied slightly dizzy.

Okay, how will they get out of this predicament. Every part of the cliff seems stable right now but Ash certainly isn't and they aren't exactly winning the trail by staying like this.

"Okay Pikachu... I am going to swing you up to the top." Ash told Pikachu once the idea popped into his head. Pikachu nodded in understanding as he prepared himself.

With a strong swing, Ash was able to launch Pikachu onto the top of the cliff whilst he still held onto his tail. The moment also swung Ash's body around so he was in a position to climb. Although only one of his feet had stable ground to stand on so he had to rely on his arm strength. Pulling himself up, Pikachu also statered to pull and Ash was able to make it safely onto the top of the cliff.

* * *

Lying on his back whilst panting heavily Cissy smiled as Pikachu climbed onto Ash's chest. Well he passed the challenge and just the way Pikachu is now proving that he has a strong bond with him. While not the smoothest run a challenger has had, it certainly proved to her that he is a capable trainer.

"Don't rest too long, Ash. The really trial is about to being." Cissy informed confidently.

At the mention of more to do, Ash looked excited. While not what he was expecting, this would really prove that he has a strong bond with all his Pokemon. Jumping to his feet with excitement, he looked Cissy in the eye with a fire of determination behind them.

"Sounds great, Cissy. So, what's next?" Ash asked.

"I like your spirit Ash, but it takes more than that to win a badge here." Cissy informed with a smirk as she grabbed a Pokeball and returned Oddish. Quickly swapping it with another Pokeball. "Next up you'll need a large flying type. Go, Fearow!". In a flash of light, the beak Pokemon appeared and stood tall next to Cissy.

The weird thing is, most Fearow's are known to be aggressive Pokemon and tend to work alone. This Fearow however, is just stood like a solider waiting for some orders. He has clearly been raised wall as he is much bigger than Paul's Fearow. What was really surprising, Cissy rubbed Fearow's head as a sign of affection and the normal flying type seemed to coo under her touch. Much like Ash's Gyarados, it seems you can't judge a Pokemon by their species.

On the ground, the group saw Cissy with her Fearow out. They can remember Cissy saying Ash would need a large flying type so it is clear Ash will be using Pidgeot next. Sure enough, they saw Ash release his female bird Pokemon. Although they can't hear what the two are talking about. So, they turned to someone who could answer their questions.

"So Senta, what's the next competition?" Misty asked as Senta held some sort of device in his hand. He pressed a button and in the air, some sort of hoops appeared, the hoops looked like some sort of hologram. This is a surprise seeing as they the island is so focused on nature.

"They need to ride their Pokemon through each hoop, without missing them or stopping. I thought that would be obvious." Senta explained as he ended with a snicker. "You might want to head to the beach.".

"How come?" Serena asked.

"That's where this competition ends." Senta informed. "I need to stay here to switch the hoops off once they have finished it.".

"So Senta, if the first challenge isn't them competing. How many does Ash have to win out of the remaining four?" Drake asked. Beforehand, Drake thought it would be a best three out of five if not a battle until all five were unable to battle but now he is just unsure.

"Your brother is allowed one loss... And here, we consider a tie a loss for both trainers." Senta informed with a smirk. "Plus, this is his one and only chance to challenge the gym, so I hope that Pidgeot of his is fast.".

"What do you mean?" Misty asked.

"A timer starts when they enter the first ring, and ends once every other ring has been passed through." Senta informed with a smirk. "If the challenger can somehow pass through all ten, then that will be used as the tie breaker.".

Back on the top of the cliff, Ash was stood to the side with Pidgeot by his side. Pikachu has been shown a short cut, and much safe path down the cliff towards the group since that is where the next competition will take place and he can't go the same way as Ash. Cissy had mounted her Fearow ready to take off.

"Okay Ash, as the gym leader. Me and Fearow will go first." Cissy told him. "Remember, the timer doesn't start until you pass the first ring.". Ash nodded in understanding as he watched Fearow flap his wings and speedily take off.

* * *

Ash _VS Cissy: (Round two: Aerial Acrobatics)_

Flying through the air at a nearly useable speed, Fearow let out an ear-piercing screech as he passed through the first ring in the air which turned from a light blue to a more golden looking colour. It is clear that is a visual indicator of which rings have been passed through.

As soon as Fearow passed through the first ring, it turned skywards and began to climb at an incredible rate. Looking closely showed Cissy was looking forward the entire time with a flame of determination. Considering the wind that must be pushing against her face it is honestly incredible that she can do that with having to close her eyes or look away.

Once at a decent height, Fearow passed through the second ring and didn't even hesitate to start descending. Aiming his body and his trainer at the right angle, Fearow was able to pass through the next three all in one shot. Those three were unique seeing as they were moving side to side and not in the same direction. It is obvious Fearow has had a lot of practise at this.

After exiting the third ring in a row, Ash noticed the next ring is directly above Fearow. That is going to cause some trouble and waste a lot of time. Fearow opened his wings which almost brought him to a complete stop before he shot into the air with a powerful flap of the rings. Using Aerial Ace, Fearow turned did a backwards loop as he passed through the sixth ring in total.

As the Aerial Ace finished, Fearow was mere inches above the ground and moving at an incredible speed. Cissy was still on his back and had the same look in her eyes as they passed through the seventh ring. Although two large rocks stood in Fearow's path and it looked like he would crash.

In a true sense of trust, Cissy didn't even flinch at the incoming collision as Fearow turned on his side while still moving forward as one of the tips of his wing blew loose dust off the ground. They passed through the rocks with a hairs width away from both sides. A couple seconds later, they passed through the other side and went through ring number eight.

Without missing a beat, Fearow flapped his wings and they took off into the air once again and shot through ring number nine as they were now above the beach area, no-one noticed but the rest of the group left for that area where they can reunite with Ash once this competition is over. Once they passed through the ninth ring in the air, the final ring appeared on the beach and was designed like a landing pad.

Fearow preformed another Aerial Ace as he did a loop in the air. Diving bombing on the final ring, he opened his rings moments before hitting the ground and they worked as a sort of parachute. Fearow was brought up to a stand position and Cissy jumped off his back not looking the least bit affected. Not only must she be fearless to not seem to have been taken affect by that and in great shape too, but seeing as she didn't give one instruction to Fearow it showed she had complete trust in him.

"Final time: twenty-two point five seconds." A robotic voice announced. The rings turned back to the normal blue colour and was in all the same position (even the moving ones were at the same speed along the same path).

While Ash would have an advantage since he saw Cissy's flawless run, he realised he too was at a disadvantage since Fearow are naturally fast than Pidgeot not to mention Pidgeot is too big to fit in between those rocks like Fearow did, even without Ash on her back. He is going to have to use the characteristics of his Pidgeot to their advantage. Although this will be scary, he doesn't fear that he is in danger since Pidgeot is fearlessly loyal, especially since evolving.

"You ready to go, Pidgeot?" Ash asked.

"Of course." Pidgeot replied as she spread out her wings with a loud cry. While she was looking forward to a battle, this will be her perfect opportunity to show everyone just how close she is to her trainer. They are a proper team and she although they share the close bond, she isn't about to show off her affectionate like a certain water serpent does.

Ash smiled as he moved and climbed on her back. Pidgeot made sure he was ready before kicking off from the ground. Although she wasn't going at nearly her fastest speed since the timer doesn't officially start until they pass through the first ring. She was hovering next to the ring and lined herself up to go for the second one above the first.

"Alright Pidgeot, we are going to need to start strong." Ash informed as he looped his arms around her neck. "Use Quick Attack!". As soon as she heard the command Pidgeot shot off through the first ring and up to the second ring.

In this competition, while they can't intervene with their opponents go Cissy used several moves like Aerial Ace so Ash and Pidgeot can do just the same. In a matter of seconds, Pidgeot passed through the second ring and started descending. Using her keen eyes as her Quick Attack wore off, she adjusted the descend angle for the third ring.

On her back, Ash was looking tense as his hand locked together while still looped around Pidgeot's neck. He already knew she was fast but experiencing that her Quick Attack first hand was just something else. He also looked like he was going to be sick, good thing he listened to Drake and had a light breakfast this morning.

Ash came to his senses as they approached the third ring which was the three all in one go. Pidgeot is not fast enough to pass through all three at once since they are moving opposite to each other, but he has the perfect solution for that.

"Spin Pidgeot and open your wings." Ash instructed as he closed his eyes as he doesn't fancy seeing the aileron roll from this position.

Pidgeot nodded and expanded her wings as her beck passed through the first of the three rings. As she continued forward, her left ring passed through the second ring and finally her right ring passed through the third ring. Although she wasn't as fast as Fearow, her larger body has its own advantages and that Quick Attack at the start gave them an extra advantage.

Ash remembered the next ring is directly above them from Cissy's performance but due to the different wing shapes Pidgeot won't be able to use the same move. Lucky, they are close to the ground and Ash knows from their previous battles how to get Pidgeot high in the air with ease.

"Use Wing Attack on the ground." Ash instructed.

Preforming this dodging technique in multiple battles as an easy way to dodge since she evolved, Pidgeot knows exactly what Ash is planning. Whacking her wing against the ground with her great strength, the impact forced Pidgeot and Ash high into the air as they passed through the sixth ring in total.

Using her own initiative, Pidgeot preformed an Aerial Ace as this is the same move Fearow used and although moving slightly slower, she copied her opponent's movements perfectly. Mere inches above the ground, they passed through the seventh ring.

Ash looked at the next obstacle with deep thought, it is the two rocks. Pidgeot is too big to pass through the gap and it would take too long to go over. Lucky, Pidgeot has always been one to face a problem head on, just like Ash and that gives Ash the perfect idea.

"Don't panick, Pidgeot. Use Steel Wing." Ash instructed with determination.

The look in Pidgeot's eyes shared the same determination. Her wings became covered in metal as the came up to the rocks. Without slowing down, Pidgeot used the steel type move to destroy the obstacle as she continued forward.

Despite clearly being uncomfortable, her trainer is holding up incredibly well. Sure, he has flown on herself, Charizard and Aerodactyl before but this is the only sort of course they have used and that just makes it so much harder. Not to mention, while in battle Ash usually has a better view point to help her out but right now they share the same point of view near enough.

With the rocks losing their tops, the team of Ash and Pidgeot passed through ring number eight. Pidgeot realised her trainer was close to not lasting much longer and so she decided to go on her own instinct for this last part. Following what her opponent did, Pidgeot flapped her wings as they started to ascend once again. She entered another Quick attack and they soon passed through ring number nine.

Unfortunately, Ash couldn't last that speed boost and his hands un hooked due to his in ability to keep them together and he started to fall. Ironically, at his current angle Ash was falling directly for the last ring. The group gasped as they saw what happened.

Pidgeot saw her trainer falling and wasn't going to let that happen. He has been the best trainer she could've asked for. Sure, he is a little rough around the edges and still learning but it is thanks to him she evolved and is close to becoming the best bird Pokemon there is, and he is also the reason she has her current friends and no longer the lone ranger.

At nearly neck breaking speeds, Pidgeot dived for her trainer. She knew she couldn't catch him at this speed as it could seriously hurt him. She doesn't really care about the competition right now as her trainer is in trouble. Zooming past, him, she landed below him in the ring. She used her wings and caught her trainer before cradling him like a mother would her baby.

"Final time: twenty point eight seconds." The robotic voice informed before the rings disappeared. "The challenger is the winner of this competition.".

* * *

"Thanks, Pidgeot." Ash coughed as he tried to catch his breath. Pidgeot smiled as she lay her trainer down on the sand. Ash didn't even try to stand up since his legs felt like jelly, he pulled out a Pokeball. "Now take a good long rest, Pidgeot. You did a great job.

"You both did, Ash. Most people even try to go through the rocks or over them." Cissy stepped up to the raven-haired boy. "You're the first one to go straight through them from what I remember.".

"Hehehe, thanks Cissy." Ash thanked with a nervous chuckle.

"Just don't rest too long, Ash. You have a choice for your next competition." Cissy informed. "It will either be the match between our fast land Pokemon or our fighting types.".

"Um okay..." Ash replied while panting out of breath. Riding on Pidgeot took more out of him than he originally thought and chances are he will need to ride on Tauros for that competition. As for Primeape's round, there aren't too many fighting types that you can ride on and so that competition will probably be different compared to these two. While it will be just as challenging presumably, Ash isn't ready to ride another Pokemon yet. "Um, can we do the fighting types match?".

"Sure, it makes no difference to me since we'll end up doing both anyway." Cissy replied as she pulled out a Pokeball. "You're up, Hitmonchan!". In a flash of light, the punching Pokemon appeared next to Cissy. He fired several punches into the air like he was hitting an invisible opponent.

"Then I choose you, Primeape!" Ash called as he released his Pig Monkey Pokemon. Primeape appeared on the sand and stamped his feet around as a sign that he is full of energy and ready to go. He has been looking forward to competing in another battle with Ash since they learnt they were competing in the Orange League.

"Catch!" Senta called out as he through some boxing gloves to Ash. The raven-haired boy looked confused as Cissy put her own boxing gloves on, Ash's were blue while Cissy's were green.

"Um, what are these for?" Ash asked.

"This is the boxing competition. The trainers face each other in a boxing match as the Pokemon also face each other." Cissy explained. "The loosing team is the one who has one of their members hit the ground and not get up for ten seconds.".

"So, if Ash is knocked down but Primeape is still going." Misty started.

"Then they lose. It doesn't matter what position the other team is in." Cissy finished the statement.

"You want me to fight you, Cissy. But you're a girl." Ash replied nervous. Sure, he has argued with people before like: Gary; Drake; Paul and even Misty but he has never been in a physical match with anyone. Well, there was that time when taking on Silph Co but that was his aura fighting, not him. Plus, is he even allowed to try and hit Cissy? Isn't that just wrong?

"No, she wants you to try." Senta snickered. He received a bop on the head from his older sister for that jab. He began to rub his head as a way to sooth his injury while Cissy turned to Ash.

"That's what the boxing gloves are for, and why we do it on the beach. It would take a lot to reduce serious injury with the safety measures." Cissy explained. "And it is pretty sexist of you to think you have an advantage simply because of your gender. I've beaten Bruno in this competition not long after he joined the Elite Four.".

Ash looked shocked, he thought it was wrong of him to try and hit Cissy but she is saying she would take offence if he didn't try. The safety set up for this competition is pretty stable but if she was able to beat Bruno in this competition, would he even stand a chance? Well, he might not be able to beat Cissy but as long as he can last long enough for Primeape to beat Hitmonchan than they have the round won.

"Okay Cissy. No way are we backing down, right Primeape." Ash replied with confidence as he put the boxing gloves on.

"Oh, and one more thing. The Pokemon can only punch or kick, no special attacks allowed." Cissy informed with a smirk. "And no helping each other, either.".

"Wait, Ash can't direct Primeape in battle?" Drake asked.

"Any trainer competing in this league has already competed in one regional league. Their Pokemon should be trained enough to know how to battle without their trainer." Cissy explained with a confident smirk. "Besides, Ash will be too busy with his own battle to help Primeape. I'm under the same restrictions too.".

* * *

Ash _VS Cissy: (Round three: Boxing Match)_

"Keep safe Ash!" Serena told her boyfriend. She about had a heart attack when he was flying on Pidgeot's back, especially when he fell and while she will support him in this league competition along with future ones, she isn't too thrilled about him being in a fight with someone.

"Don't worry Serena, I'll be fi..." Ash was cut off as he received a punch in the shoulder curtsy of Cissy. While it didn't knock him over, Ash did stumble abit before looking at the gym leader who wore a confident smirk.

"The competition has started, Ash. You need to pay attention." Cissy informed. She jumped forward and thrusted her fist towards Ash's face. Lucky, the raven-haired boy wasn't caught off guard and ducked out of the way before trying to create some distance between them.

So, this can't really turn out well, Cissy is really going for it. In truth, he doesn't feel completely recovered from his ride with Pidgeot. Cissy, on the other hand, is fighting fit (literally) and she charged at the Pallet native. Doing a slight jump in the air, she kicked Ash in the chest to knock him off balance. As Ash stumbled backwards, Cissy landed in a Spider-Man pose before preforming a low sweep which caused Ash to land on his back.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..." Cissy counted down. Ash realised this is his time limit, he she reaches zero before he gets up than he has lost this competition. While he is allowed one loss or tie, he doesn't exactly want to let Primeape down.

Rolling onto his stomach, Ash tried to use Cissy's own trick against her and preformed his own low sweep. Unfortunately, Cissy was able to jump over his counter while doing a small back flip. While not what Ash wanted, it did buy him enough time to stand up before he was facing off against Cissy once more.

Primeape's battle against Hitmonchan had also started. Since he isn't the oldest or most experienced of Ash's Pokemon, Primeape has spent some time training with Aerodactyl who taught him a defensive strategy to ware opponents down and he is trying it out right now.

Being one of the fastest fighting type species, this is perfect for Primeape. As Hitmonchan jumped towards the Pig Monkey Pokemon while shooting some fast rate punches, Primeape ducked out of the way avoiding the attack. The strategy Aerodactyl taught him was the in and away.

Hitmonchan was not happy about being dodges and jumped towards Primeape again who used his superior speed to avoid the attack a second time. Primeape took advantage of the current position as he is behind the Punching Pokemon and he delivered a powerful punch in his back.

Hitmonchan are known for being hot headed especially when compared to their calm counter part of Hitmonlee and the way this Pig Monkey is battling is just making him angry. The Punching Pokemon is red with anger, if this Pig Monkey just stayed still than he wouldn't be able to survive another Punch.

As Hitmonchan went in for a fury of Punches, Primeape again used his superior speed to end up behind Hitmonchan and delivered another punch in the back. The two solid hits and the wasted energy was starting to ware Hitmonchan out.

Ash had just been knocked on his back again, with Cissy starting the count down. From this perspective, Ash could see how Primeape was preforming and that is clearly working. If this keeps up, then Primeape would win. Plus, the way he was moving was giving Ash ideas. Jumping back to his feet, Cissy reached four in the count down.

Cissy ran forward to preform another kick in the chest to knock him off balance and it is clear Cissy out matches Ash in every way: Skill, strength, speed, and height, that is what Ash can use against her. Being smaller Ash preformed a role out of the way and avoid Cissy's attack. Due to him being smaller there is less of a hit box to get hit and he can use that against Cissy.

Ash was expecting to have to keep dodging but Cissy stood up and removed her gloves. Ash was about to ask what was going on when a look over to the Pokemon showed Hitmonchan on the floor with Primeape celebrating above him.

* * *

"Well Ash, that was well played." Cissy informed. "You can take a five-minute break since we're a head of the normal time frame. The next round will be your fast land Pokemon.".

"Thanks... Cissy..." Ash panted as he fell on his behind out of exhaustion. While his mind was in the battle, he didn't realise how tired he actually was. If this is what it is like for the Pokemon after each battle than he has much more respect for them. Primeape came up to his trainer and gave him a bone crushing hug.

"Urg, thanks Primeape. You were amazing out there." Ash praised his fighting type. Primeape realised he hurt his trainer and blushed in embarrassment, Ash pulled out his Pokeball. "Now take a good long rest, buddy. You deserve it.".

Primeape happily let himself be returned and Ash noticed Cissy returned her Hitmonchan with a word of thanks before putting the Pokeball away with a sigh. To Ash's surprise, Drake stepped forward as Serena joined her boyfriend on the sand. She was not happy about seeing him in an actual fight and is just glad he is alright. After a quick hug, Ash stood up and walked over to the water where he let his Lapras out.

"Hey Lapras, how ya feeling?" Ash asked.

"Good." Lapras replied a little timid since the others came over and crowded her a bit. She tried to hide by nuzzling her head into Ash's stomach.

"Why did you bring Lapras out Ash, she won't be suitable for the next competition." Cissy informed.

"Oh no, I'm not using Lapras at all today." Ash replied as he rubbed the transport Pokemon's head. "You see, Lapras got separated from her family and we are helping her find them. I thought she could listen for them since we're near the water.".

"Fine with me." Cissy replied. "Just know you will still need a large water type. Even if you lose the next round, your allowed one loss which means we are definitely competing in the final competition. Of course, if you win than you win the gym badges without the last round, although I've never had a challenger do that since becoming the gym leader.".

"That's great. I'm ready whenever you are." Ash replied excited. He has had enough time to rest and he is ready to start the next round. Of course, he can't have fully recovered but he is feeling fine and wants to get this going. Cissy smirked as she pulled out a Pokeball, only fools rush in.

"Then allow me to show you who your facing, Go Arcanine!" Cissy released her large fire type. Although big, he sat behind Cissy like a loyal dog would. He is clearly stong and the arguably the biggest Arcanine any of them have seen. It is much bigger than Gary's and seems bigger than Green's (Ash's and Drake's Uncle) the only Arcanine that might be bigger is Blue's, which makes sense because he is the Champion.

"Then I choose you, Tauros!" Ash shouted as his wild bull Pokemon appeared on the sand. Scaping his hove in the sand, the normal type let out a powerful battle cry before standing strong next to his trainer. Locking eyes with Arcanine, a smirk grew on his face. So, this is his next opponent, is it?

"You really think that thing can beat my sisters Arcanine?" Senta asked with a smug smirk. "Your Primeape only won that last round because it was Hitmonchan's first time as a gym Pokemon.". He received a bop on the head curtsy of Cissy because of that rude comment.

"Don't be so rude, Senta. Tauros has clearly been raised well. You aren't allowed to judge others Pokemon because you don't have one yourself." Cissy scolded her younger brother. Senta mumbled something before he turned his back. Cissy turned to Ash. "Sorry about that, Ash. Senta should know how to treat challengers.".

"It's fine. Both me and Tauros know he is plenty strong anyway." Ash laughed it off as he rubbed Tauros' head. Tauros grunted but stood tall. While he doesn't have confidence issues he isn't too happy with how the kid spoke about him. The truth is, when younger he always wanted his own children but it never happened since he didn't meet anyone. That is why he is so calm towards the young like at the party after the Indigo League where he let children ride on him.

"What did he mean when he said this was Hitmonchan's first gym battle?" Drake asked.

"Hitmonchan is one of my newer Pokemon, and has only be certified for gym challenges this season. I can still use any of my other fighting type but I want to give him the chance to prove himself as well." Cissy explained. "Unfortunately for you, my Arcanine was the first Pokemon I caught and my last Pokemon was my starter way back when, so you have to face arguable my two most experienced Pokemon.".

"The harder the challenge, the harder we battle. Right guys." Ash declared with excited as he gestured to his Pokemon. Tauros mooed in agreement while both Pikachu and Togepi cheered.

Lapras saw what was happening and let out a smile. She has always been so dependent on her parents to the point where she couldn't be more than a few feet away from her. While she misses them dearly, she does hope that she can have the confidence and strength that Ash's Pokemon have but how could the infant achieve something like that?

"I like that spirit, but don't think that alone will win this round." Cissy told the raven-haired boy with a confident smirk and her arms crossed. "This challenge is a race, like with the flying contest neither of us can use moves or attack each other. We ride on our Pokemon and have to make it one lap around the perimeter of the island. The winners are the first ones back here.".

"Sounds good to me." Ash declared as Cissy jumped onto her fire types back. "You ready to win a race, Tauros?". Tauros nodded and stepped up beside Arcanine as Ash climbed onto his back. While Cissy looked comfy and confident, Ash wasn't as nicely sat. Of course, he said he should give riding Tauros a try he saw Tauros give children rides at the after party for the Indigo League.

"We can start on your call, Ash." Cissy told Ash confidently. This successfully unnerved the raven-haired boy as that is basically handing him a free advantage right off the back. Is Cissy just that confident in her Arcanine's abilities?

"Alright then... Begin!" Ash shouted as Tauros started charging forward. Shortly followed by Arcanine.

* * *

Ash _VS Cissy: (Round Four: Running Race)_

Although Tauros started off a second earlier due to Ash starting the race Arcanine didn't let the wild bull get to far ahead and after five seconds easily took the lead as Tauros picked up speed. While not using moves means the two have a pretty even top speed, Tauros has a slower acceleration compared to the fire type.

"Come on Tauros we can't let them get ahead of us." Ash told his normal type.

Tauros grunted in agreement and slowly accelerate. As the two Pokemon reached their maximum speed (without using moves that is) the two-seemed neck and neck as the end of the beach came up.

Cissy smirked from a top the legendary Pokemon, this match is going to be interesting seeing both trainer and Pokemon are determined. This is the type of trainer she respects and is the reason she accepted the gym leader position after her challenge against Drake years back when she was offered the chance to face the Orange League.

As Ash held on to the normal type, he was being thrown about as Tauros kept up with his opponent. While not a massive surprise, riding Tauros isn't all to comfy. It also reminded Ash of the time when Grace tried to give him Rhyhorn racing lessons. Of course, that ended up with him breaking his arm and his mum putting a stop to the lessons after only the second session. Hopefully this doesn't end the same way, he would hate to think of what his mum would do to Tauros at the lab. He might need to keep the normal type on his team constantly if that happens.

The beach portion came to an end as the two Pokemon hit the solid ground. To Ash's surprise, having the solid footing under his feet Tauros was able to keep running forward and picked up more speed and momentum. Cissy was shocked to see her opponent to take the lead but this course is far from over.

Arcanine kept his same speed as he let Tauros create some distance between them. He has run this course, thousands of times and knows what is coming up, and only fools run a head.

"Keep it up, Tauros." Ash praised as he tried to hide his discomfort.

As they ran across the land, Ash was looking at the arrows placed up to show the way around the course. While it means that they can't go off course, Ash noticed something very frightening. A running lake is between them with a fast current. Due to a couple of wild Pokemon it is obvious that the water isn't too deep so no worries about drowning but there is no bridge so they need to go straight through it.

"Brace yourself, Tauros." Ash warned.

The wild bull nodded and narrowed his eyes. Much like his trainer, this is a new experience for him. True, he let child ride on him at the after-league party but he has never had a race with a rider and to mention Ash is much heavier than those children.

Charging at the stream, Tauros did a sort of leap as he flew off the land and over the water. That small boost was enough to clear half the stream to make the job easier. Tauros grunted as he landed in the water and Ash was thrown off the wild bull. He was able to hold onto his horns and didn't get blown away.

Arcanine reached the lake as the two Pokemon slowly started trudging across the lake. Ash thought he would have the advantage since Arcanine is a fire type, but like Tauros did before, Arcanine jumped on the edge of the ground. Due to his longer legs, Arcanine easily jumped over the entire stream and didn't lose any speed as he started running across the other side.

Ash and Tauros made it to the other side as they saw both Arcanine and Cissy disappear. Quickly shaking themselves dry, Tauros started charging across the ground while picking up speed. Due to it being easier to run across ground compared to sand for Tauros, the raven-haired boy and wild bull were able to reach Arcanine's tail as the beach area came back up.

Ash was hoping he would be able to take the lead as both Pokemon hit the sand but to side dismay, Tauros' hove slipped. Arcanine had no such problem because his paws have a soft padding meaning he has a bigger grip area thus is stable on all surfaces. Taurus's small hove's however sunk into the sand, he didn't have this problem at the start because he started the race on the sand but the big change (like when he picked up speed when reach land) turned the once advantage to a disadvantage.

Ash flew off the top of Tauros and crashed into the sand as Arcanine swiftly passed over the finish line which just so happened to be the same line where they started the race.

* * *

Ash pushed himself up as he saw that he lost the race. While his backside was acing from the rough ride, he knew he didn't sustained any major injures because the sand cushioned his fall. He stood himself up and made his way over to his wild bull Pokemon who too was trying to push himself up.

"Hey buddy, you were great." Ash told the normal type as he helped him stand. "How ya, feeling.".

"I'm good..." Tauros sighed. Like Ash, the sand cushioned his fall but it is clear he is upset. He wanted to prove to the kid that he was a good Pokemon. Since he never got the chance to have kids of his own, he likes spending time with them. He is too old now to start his own family, even if he did meet someone.

"Cheer up, buddy. You will get to show your strength again someday." Ash told his normal type. Tauros let out a small smile and grunted. He really has grown fond of his trainer, and his never give up enthusiasm. If he did have a kid, he would hope they would be like his trainer. Ash pulled out a Pokeball. "Now take a good rest.".

Ash returned his normal type and clipped it to his belt as the group approached him. Cissy was also walking and had her Arcanine returned as well. From the water, the transport Pokemon was watching what happened with interest. She is certain her family is no-where nearby and decided to see what this gym thing Ash talked about was. In all honesty, it looks very interesting. Part of her wouldn't mind proving her own strength and compete in one, but would Ash even let her since she is so young. Her parents always wrapped her cotton wool and wouldn't let her out of sight so she is sure Ash would do the same.

"Don't worry Ash, you were great. So was Tauros." Serena reassured as she gave him a hug.

"Heh, told you that thing couldn't beat my sisters Arcanine. Same goes for her Blastoise." Senta laughed cockily. He received another bop on the head for that comment which shut the boy up again.

"Since my _lovely_ brother has spoiled it, guess I'll go and show you your opponent for the last round." Cissy told the group as she gripped her Pokeball. "Go Blastoise!". In a flash of light, the large water turtle appeared and stood strong behind Cissy.

"Then I guess I'll show you my Pokemon as well." Ash replied as he gripped his Pokeball. "I choose you, Gyarados!". In the flash of light, the atrocious Pokemon appeared with a massive roar. Senta was both shocked and scared when the large water flying type appeared, he never expected this kid to have one.

Once his battle cry finished, Gyarados turned to Ash and the rest of the group knew what was going to happen and stepped away. If Senta was shocked before, he was flabbergasted when Gyarados dived on the raven-haired boy and entered his affectionate lick. Unlike Cissy, he doesn't know anything about the challengers to the Orange League while Cissy has done her research on all six trainers.

"So, the legend of the affectionate Gyarados is true." Cissy smirked as Gyarados finally let himself up.

"I'm happy to see you too, buddy." Ash gasped for breath as Gyarados stood tall. His eyes met with Blastoise and he smirked so this is his opponent. He will show that he has the best trainer of all and beat this turtle to do so.

"This last competition will be a Pokemon Wave Rider race." Cissy informed.

"Pokemon Wave Rider?" Ash questioned.

"It's a race in the water." Cissy explained as she pointed out into the water where a flag was located. "You have to stand on your Pokemon and while they race out, around the flag and back again. But unlike our previous competitions, we are both free to attack however we like. The winners are the pair to make it back to the beach first.".

"Sounds good to me." Ash replied. As he saw Blastoise move towards the water. He realised that was to signal where the starting match with begin and he gestured for Gyarados to follow. Gyarados followed the water turtle and although kept his distance was at the same starting point.

"Ash, are you sure this is a good idea?" Serena asked.

"I haven't even competed in a Pokemon waver rider race and water Pokemon are my speciality." Misty added.

"Don't worry guys, Gyarados wouldn't let anything happen to me." Ash replied with full confidence in his water flying type.

"That is true, if Pidgeot is fearlessly loyal than Gyarados is on a whole different level." Drake replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if Gyarados would sacrifice himself to save Ash with how deeply he cares for him.".

Ash put on a fake smile as he made his way over to his water flying type. While unintentional, the words that Ash heard Drake say stung, he has been focused on keeping Gyarados close because of that dream he had. That isn't really fair on his other Pokemon and maybe his father is right. It could just be a stupid dream but even if it does have a deeper meaning, it can't be as straight forward as what he saw. He can't keep showing Gyarados special treatment as that is just as likely to cause that dream as not. He should just act normally and take things as they come, like his dad suggested.

Lapras was in the water making sure to stay out of the way of the two large water types. Although she hasn't really bonded with anyone other than Ash, she can say she would like to get to know Gyarados. He honestly reminds her off her father, both are big strong and power but as Gyarados showed with how he greeted Ash, they both share the same soft heart. She is too young to think of him in a romantic way, plus he is way older than her so she wouldn't think of him in that way but he could be a father figure until she finds her real father.

Ash stood on his Gyarados' back as the atrocious Pokemon stood up. This small action caused him to be a little wobbly but he remained standing. Gyarados was quick to check his trainer was alright and once he got his footing, Ash reassured the water flying type. Once both teams were ready, Cissy started the match like how Ash did with Tauros.

* * *

Ash _VS Cissy: (Round Five: Wave Rider)_

Just like last time, since Cissy was the one to start this round she got the early advantage with Blastoise. Gyarados was deterred, this race is important to his beloved trainer which means it is important to him. He shot down the water but tried to make it as easy for Ash as possible.

"Use Dragon Dance, and speed up Gyarados!" Ash told his water flying.

Gyarados nodded as he kept accelerating. Of course, he wasn't going at his fastest right now but that is because he wants to make sure his trainer is safe. Lights appeared around Gyarados as both his speed and attack power increased. At about the half way mark between the beach and flag, the two were neck and neck.

"Careful Gyarados, we need to be on alert in case Blastoise tries anything." Ash warned Gyarados.

The atrocious Pokemon nodded in understand, while focused on the flag they were swimming towards, Gyarados made sure to keep Blastoise and Cissy in the corner of his eye. Although both Ash and Gyarados saw Cissy speak with Blastoise, she was so quiet and the fast wind passing them made it so they couldn't hear her, of course they also couldn't make out what Ash said to Gyarados.

Blastoise raised his arm as he continued to keep up with Gyarados. It used Brick Break on the water between the two Pokemon which caused a water barrier to split them apart. It seems like Cissy is taking more of a defensive stance than offensive.

To Ash's surprise, when the water barrier disappeared, Cissy and Blastoise were already swimming around the flag. Ash realised she used that attack as a distraction and took the lead.

"Speed it up, Gyarados. We can't let them win." Ash warned his water flying type.

Gyarados didn't want to let his trainer down and kicked up his speed into a different gear as he continued to swim around the flag. Although difficult, Ash was able to stay standing on his Gyarados as the two ended up neck and neck.

Both Cissy and Blastoise wore similar smirks and without a word uttered from either, Blastoise started to bash into Gyarados' side. The force caused Ash to wobble and he momentarily fell onto one knee. Gyarados slowed down slightly to keep Ash save and due to that last attack, Blastoise also lost some speed. Gyarados used his tail to block any further Blastoise's from his opponent.

Once Ash was stood up, Gyarados started to accelerate and took the lead being naturally faster than Blastoise. The water turtle didn't like the prospect of losing and directed his cannons before firing a small shot of water at his opponents. He used water gun. Of course, Hydro Pump is stronger but he isn't trying to cause damage, he just wants to knock them track and it is quicker to fire Water Gun since it uses less water.

Blastoise made a fatal mistake as his Water Gun hit Ash in the shoulder which caused him to fall onto Gyarados' back with a cry of pain. Gyarados saw red when he heard his trainers cry of pain. He swiftly turned to look at the cause of this. Powering up an Aqua Tail he used his full force to hit Blastoise into the air, with Cissy barely jumping off in time.

Whilst helpless in the air, Gyarados had a white ball of energy form in his mouth. He has been practising a new move Aerodactyl tried training him with prior to the Indigo League but this is the first time it seems to be working. The white ball turned into a white beam of pure power with a red outline. He used Hyper Beam. Which struck the water turtle and pushed him through the air and past the flag. Once the attack ended Gyarados was panting heavily.

"Calm down, Gyarados. I'm fine." Ash reassured as he looked at what Gyarados just did. While he is happy that his Pokemon mastered the new move, he isn't happy about that temper. True, Gyarados is classified as an atrocious Pokemon but his has always been so gentle and friendly... As weird as that sounds.

"S-sorry Ash..." Gyarados replied remorseful. He can act on his natural instinct when it comes to his trainer's safety.

"It's okay buddy, lets finish this race." Ash told his water flying type. Gyarados nodded and started to swim to the beach as Ash stood back up. Of course, he wasn't going at his fastest because he doesn't really need to worry about his opponent now.

Cissy smiled at the duo as her starter appeared under her. She was sat on the water turtles back as both remerged out of the water. Her Blastoise isn't serious hurt but she had him attack Ash on purpose. She wanted to see first-hand the bond between the two of them. While some might say she threw the race away, this whole competition is about the bond between Pokemon and trainer. Ash has already proven that he has strong bond with all his Pokemon so it isn't too big of a loss.

She stood back up as she saw her opponents make it back to the beach. While they made their way there, she saw Ash thank and return his Gyarados, whilst feeling guilt about his outburst against Blastoise he is also exhausted as that is the first time he has used Hyper Beam. It didn't take long for Cissy and Blastoise to make it back to shore.

* * *

"Hey Ash, that was a great race." Cissy told her opponent. "You've really earnt this, the Coral Eye Badge.". The badge in question was a pink seashell in the shape of a clam with a blue gemstone in the centre.

"Alright! We've earnt the Coral Eye Badge!" Ash declared as he struck a pose with his new badge as both Pikachu and Togepi joined in.

Off from the group, Lapras smiled as she saw the excitement between the Pokemon and trainer. She has grown fond of Ash in such a short time and she after seeing him compete with his other Pokemon, she wants to become strong like they are. Of course, she misses her family dearly but whilst away this could prove to be a good experience and allow her to mature. But would Ash really help her get stronger? Or would she only be slowing him and his other Pokemon down, she already feels like she is intruding by adding the search for her family to their journey.

"Hey Lapras!" Ash called out to the transport Pokemon. Lapras realised she was pretty far out in the water so the Pokeball probably couldn't reach her. Well, Ash has proven to be nice so far so there is no harm in asking, so she swam back to him.

"Congratulations..." Lapras praised her trainer.

"Thanks, Lapras. I'm guessing you can't sense your family nearby?" Ash asked with a sad smile. Lapras replied with a sad and slow shake of her head. "Cheer up, Lapras. I'm sure we will find them at some point. It just takes time.".

"... Thank you, Ash." Lapras replied as she nuzzled her head against Ash's head. Ash happily returned the affection before bringing out a Pokeball.

"Hold on, Ash. I want to ask you something." Lapras stopped her trainer from returning her.

"Sure Lapras, go ahead." Ash smiled at her.

"Um... I was wondering... If you'd... Maybe..." Lapras stuttered. She took a deep breath before calming herself. "Help me get stronger like your other Pokemon... Maybe I could even compete against a gym with you... Please.".

"Sure Lapras, I would be happy to train and battle with you." Ash smiled. "We can start tomorrow if you'd like, the others are sure to be tired after today and it is getting late as it is.".

"Thank you!" Lapras cried as she nuzzled herself into Ash's stomach.

"It's okay, Lapras. Your helping us move from island to island so it's the least we can do." Ash reassured. "Plus, I plan on making a few rotations so you'll get to make some more friends.".

With that, Ash returned his Lapras and the group bid goodbye to Cissy and Senta. To everyone's surprise, Senta apologised to everyone about his behaviour. Now that he has his first Orange League badge, Ash feels closer to his Pokemon and is excited to not only see what else this Archipelago has to offer but to start working with his Lapras. His Pokedex told him about a new move one of his Pokemon learnt at the lab and that would be useful to teach to the transport Pokemon. Not to mention, Serena has made her plans to watch one of Shauna's contests. Despite it not being all too long ago, it will be good to see the Kalos trio again, as the journey continues...

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	7. Pokemon Contests

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the chapter focused around Serena's future goal and the return of the Kalos trio. The main focus will be on Serena and Shauna since it is her contest. Remember when I said Serena's Kanto mega will be getting its mega stone soon, well, that might happen as well. Now, I have run into a slight problem when planning a future arc. The first thing I plan out is the main characters teams for that arc and I've come across Iris from Unova. Her goal is to become a dragon type master and I don't consider someone a type specialist if they use Pokemon other than that type. Iris has both an Excadrill and Emolga. I am tempted to give her replacements to those Pokemon which are dragon type but if I do than I will give both of them to other characters. I still have a long time before I reach Unova but I want your guys opinion on what I should do. Anyway, remember to vote in the latest poll. It is up until Ash catches his next Pokemon (which is his cannon catch) and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 7: Pokemon Contests_

It is the day after Ash's battle with Cissy and the group is riding on Lapras' back. Since it was so late after the battle, they stayed on Mikan Island for one more night and while on course to Navel Island for his gym, they are stopping off at Mandarin Island, a.k.a. The Big Orange, as this is the sight for Shauna's next Contest and just like they planned, Serena is going to watch it.

While not interested in Contest particular, Ash is going to use this time to train his Pokemon. Of course, he would watch and support Serena in contests if she decides to compete but that isn't the case today. Misty has decided to go with Serena to watch the contest as well, while Drake wants to train his Pokemon with Ash, especially since they haven't had much chance to train in the Orange Islands.

"Laaaaa!" Lapras cried as she wanted to get the others attention.

"What's up, Lapras?" Ash asked. As he grabbed Togepi off the transport Pokemon's head, while he knows Lapras wouldn't let anything happen to him, he was a little wobbly and he wants to speak with the fairy type anyway.

"The next Island is coming up." Lapras informed. Looking past his water ice types head, he could just make out the silhouette of a big city, from this distance it seems to resemble Saffron City from Kanto but that is probably because they are both big cities.

"Alright, thanks Lapras." Ash thanked and received the transport Pokemon nuzzling her head against his. After a couple of moments, Lapras turned back to facing forward and picked up the speed a bit.

"Dada?" Togepi asked, he was having fun with Uncle Pikachu and the other youngster of the Pokemon, why did he take him away from them.

"Don't worry Togepi, I just wanted to ask you something." Ash answered after guessing what he meant. Even though Togepi can't fully speak Ash can just sort of sense what he means because of the bond they share. "Since we are splitting up temporarily when we reach land, do you want to train with me and Drake or go and watch the contest with Serena and Misty?".

It may seem like a weird question since Togepi is Ash's Pokemon but during every training session so far Togepi would stay with Serena or Brock when he was still in the group. Plus, Ash has changed his team around and there is one of his Pokemon that isn't suitable for the young fairy type.

"Toge Toge!" Togepi cheered as he pointed to Serena with his stubby little arms. Ash already asked Serena beforehand if she was happy to watch him, she knows that Ash doesn't mind watching him but he plans to start working with one of his Pokemon in particular so he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on the fairy type plus she really doesn't mind spending time with the Spike Ball. Although he hasn't imprinted on her, she is kind've like his step mother.

"Okay Togepi, you can join us. Who knows, maybe you would like to perform in contests when your older." Serena smiled as she took the young fairy type. In truth, the Spike Ball Pokemon wants to show his dada how much he has grown up. He might even try using other words soon.

"Um Serena..." Ash sweat dropped. Togepi has pretty much already decided he will join Ash's team when he is old enough but contests aren't really his area, sure he will support Serena with them but if Togepi was going to perform in contests that would mean he would need to as well.

"Well we're almost there." Misty pointed out.

"Yeah, you said you was meeting Shauna at the Pokemon Centre, right?" Ash asked his girlfriend.

"Right, if you two want to go to the beach right away to train. We will be happy to book the room for tonight." Serena offered.

"That would be great, thanks Serena." Ash replied with a friendly smile.

"Yeah thanks." Drake also thanked. While it might seem rude, he still isn't the most social of people although he is still polite.

* * *

It wasn't long before Lapras landed on a beach. What was a surprise being this section of the beach is rather empty, probably because it is off from the main road and out of the way? Still, it would make a good training area for the boys. The girls bid them goodbye with Togepi in tow. He is going to be on his best behaviour to show his dada how grown up he is.

"Come on out, everyone!" Ash shouted as he threw his two Pokeballs, Safari ball and Ultra ball in the air.

Lapras was already out since Ash didn't see much point in returning her and Pikachu was also out. In a flash of light, Ash's on hand team appeared in front of him with his two other Pokemon joining them. His current team consists of: Pikachu, Charizard, Sandslash, Tauros, Dragonair and Lapras.

Upon appearing Charizard and Dragonair greeted Lapras. They have heard Ivysaur and Pidgeot speak about the latest team member and know she is quite young so they want to make her feel welcome. A princess must personally welcome each of her subjects into her kingdom after all.

Drake wasn't as vocal as Ash and simply released his five on hand Pokemon with his Cubone joining the line-up. His current team consists of: Charizard, Pinsir, Jolteon, Machamp, Cubone and Snorlax. Since he doesn't have as many Pokemon as Ash does, Drake can't rotate quite as many as his brother.

"Okay guys, today is a training day." Ash told his Pokemon. Upon hearing that the two Charizard looked at each other with fire behind their eyes. These two have started a rivalry but haven't had the chance to properly battle yet. The two brothers looked at the Flame Pokemon and sighed.

"You two can battle." Drake told them.

"Just don't get in anybody else's way and keep out of trouble." Ash added. The two Charizard smirked and nodded. Both let out powerful roars before they shot into the air and started to trade blows with Wing Attack and Steel Wing respectively.

Dragonair rolled her eyes at the brutes of the Kingdom. It doesn't matter which of those two is the strongest because they both fall against the princess herself and can't stand up to her strength. She also noticed the ground brute has walked off somewhere. Her attention was drawn back to her trainer as he approached her.

"Hey Dragonair, can you help me with something?" Ash asked.

"What does thy ask of me?" Dragonair asked as she doesn't want to agree until she hears what it is she is agreeing to. She knows Ash wouldn't want her to do anything stupid or dangerous but a princess can't make an agreement without knowing the terms.

"I know you've recently mastered Ice Beam, and I want you to help Lapras learn that move." Ash explained with a sweat drop. While she is one of his strongest Pokemon and really nice when you get to know her but her princess act can make things awkward.

"Of course, I shall help my latest subject to give her an advantage on the battlefield." Dragonair replied.

"Great. Thanks, Dragonair." Ash thanked before walking with her towards Lapras who is floating in the water.

She is excited for her first real training session and can't wait to see what Ash has in store. She saw Ash approaching her and the snake like dragon with him. She looked at him expectantly. What is her first training session going to be? Maybe a battle like the two Charizard or maybe some sort of excise, she can see Drake has his really muscular fighting type and his bug type doing push ups at the minute.

"Hey Lapras, are you ready for your first training session?" Ash asked.

"Yes." Lapras replied with excitement.

"Well you've already met Dragonair, right?" Ash asked. Lapras nodded in response. While it is nice to have another female in the team, she can't help but think Pidgeot is nicer and more of a motherly figure. Although she can't expect Ash's Pokemon to take over the roles in her family. "Well Lapras, Dragonair is going to help you learn the move Ice Beam. I think it would be really useful since your best move currently is Water Pulse. It has some solid power but isn't too tricky like Blizzard would be.". Lapras nodded in excitement. She knows only a few moves since her father said she was too young for battling. This is going to be so much fun.

"Good child. Let's move out into the water, those brutes in the air shouldn't both us there." Dragonair informed before entering the water and swimming out. Both Lapras and Ash sweat dropped, from what Lapras could tell when she met Charizard he was nice although he is also kind of scary with how he is battling against that other Charizard. Oh well, at least this will get her stronger and maybe she can get to know Dragonair more whilst at it. Lapras swam after the dragon type.

Ash smiled as he turned back to see what the others were doing. Of course, Dragonair is helping Lapras learn the move Ice Beam and the two Charizard are battling, but Pikachu has also paired up with Cubone and are matching Iron Tail with Bone Club. Tauros is running along the sand and while it doesn't look like much Ash knows he is trying to train the weakness that Cissy exploited in yesterday's race. Machamp and Pinsir are both preforming push ups to increase their physical strength while Snorlax and Jolteon are teamed up. Jolteon is using his speed to help Snorlax with his reflexes.

"So, what should we do now, Ash?" Drake asked. He normally watches over his Pokemon whilst they train to give them pointers but if he has learned one thing whilst travelling with Ash, it's that he probably has a way to bond whilst training.

"We join them, of course." Ash replied matter-of-factly. "I'm going to work with Sandslash, see you in a bit.".

Drake sighed as his brother ran over to his ground type who is slashing his claws against a rock. He is an academic not athletic type of person. Well, if it will help him get closer to his Pokemon it has to be worth it. He made his way over to his Pinsir and Machamp who are doing push ups. Taking off his jacket, he started to do the same exercise as his two Pokemon. Both of them sweat dropped at how awkward their trainer is preforming a basic warm up, this really is out of his comfort zone.

"Hey Sandslash, mind if I join ya?" Ash asked as he ran up to his ground type. This whole league is about bonding with Pokemon and to this date, Sandslash is the only Pokemon he hasn't bonded with on his team.

Sandslash growled threateningly and rolled his eyes before going back to slashing his claws against the rock, leaving some deep marks on the solid object. Normally Sandslash would attack anyone who dares enter his space, especially a human, their all the same and he still has the scares to prove it. But this brat did prove himself a little when he ran in between those two psychic types way back. Don't get him wrong, he doesn't like the brat but that proved that attacking him wouldn't get the message across.

Ash realised that is the best answer he could expect from the ground type and smiled. He took off his jacket before preforming some stretches. He soon sat facing the rock, just a different side to the one Sandslash is marking. He started doing sit-ups. "So Sandslash, what's on your mind?".

Sandslash growled threateningly and placed his claw in the sand before using it to create a deep line between himself and the brat. He isn't going to fall for that goody act about being friends and helping each other. Humans are all the same. Ash sweat dropped at Sandslash's actions, he is clearly making no attempt to even let Ash in, this is going to be harder than he thought.

* * *

"Serena! Misty! There you guys are." Shauna squealed in excitement as she ran up to her two friends. The two girls have just walked out of the Pokemon Centre after booking the room for the night. Serena was going to call the Kalos native to see where they should meet up but that isn't needed now.

"Hey Shauna, long time no see." Serena greeted the excited girl with a hug.

"Yeah Shauna, it's good to see you again." Misty greeted as the quick hug ended. "Where are Tierno and Trevor?".

"Oh, I sent them to train because they were getting on my nerves." Shauna replied with a surprising happy smile. "I've got a contest rival and Tierno has developed a crush on her. In the end, I ended up asking who he was supporting... But on the bright side, he's moved on from you, Serena.".

"Oh goodie..." Serena put on a fake smile. While she is happy she won't need to deal with Tierno's flirting anymore, she can't help but feel sorry for Shauna, Serena has only really had Miette as a rival and she knows how bad she would feel if one of her travelling friends would support her back when they battled.

"This rival sounds like a jerk." Misty commented.

"Oh no, she is actually quite nice. But she one of the most skilled coordinators that I have ever seen." Shauna explained. "Everyone is saying the same thing, she is the coordinator to beat in the Orange Island Contest circuit.".

"Who is she? Is she competing today?" Serena asked.

"I haven't seen her here and I faced a few days ago at the Kinnow Island Contest. She won her fourth badge and she told me she was taking a little break to perfect a new combination." Shauna explained. "I'm guessing I probably won't see her again until the grand festival.".

"So, what did Tierno say?" Misty asked.

"He told me he was supporting, and asked if I would put in a good word with her." Shauna explained with a sweat drop. "I know he was joking, mostly. I'll just let him sweat it out a bit before I put his nerves to rest.". Serena and Misty smiled, they like this girls style.

"Who knows Serena, if you decide to do contests you might end up with two rivals instead of just Shauna." Misty joked.

"Maybe..." Serena replied. She is really excited to see Shauna compete in a contest and from everything she has learned they seem to be right up her alley. She is only unsure because of the painful memory of when she faced the Battle Chateau for the first time and how badly that ended. She doesn't want to run into something unprepared again.

"Sorry but even if you do decide to compete, Serena, you won't be able to go to the Grand Festival being held before the Orange League." Shauna apologised as she explained to her two friends.

"How come?" Misty asked.

"If you don't count this today's contest, which has already been filled. There are only four contests being held before the grand festival." Shauna explained. "And to compete in the grand festival, you need a minimum of five ribbons.".

"Oh..." Serena replied, while she didn't want to rush into anything she also kind of feels sad now, everything she has seen about contests has told her she would enjoy competing in them but now she won't be able to compete while Ash is working towards the Orange League. "At least I can enjoy today's contest.".

"Right... And you'll watch me compete in the Grand Festival, right?" Shauna asked.

"Of course." Serena smiled in return. So, what if she can't compete in the Orange Island Grand Festival, she can still learn all she can about contests and then where ever they decided to travel next, she can compete than. Since they have little under three months before the Orange League, she won't have to wait too long before she can compete.

"Should we get going then? Or Shauna, you might miss your chance to compete today." Misty suggested. The two girls saw her logic and set off for the Contest hall.

Shauna spent some time getting to know Togepi and much to Misty's annoyance, Togepi didn't have a problem with the budding coordinator. It has nothing to do with Shauna herself as she is very friendly. It's just because Togepi hasn't forgiven her for the first time they met.

* * *

Once the girls reached the contest hall, Shauna bid the girls good bye to get ready for the first round. Lucky all participating coordinators get so many seats for their guests so it didn't cost Serena or Misty anything. The two girls found their seats and soon the Contest had started.

The first round was an appeal round and before Shauna there were five other coordinators. These trainers clearly ranged in skill and used different Pokemon like: Growlithe, Vaporeon, Gloom, Electabuzz and a Farfetch'd. Serena briefly wondered what her own Farfetch'd would think of this and sweat dropped. Despite listening and respecting the honey-blonde girl, while he is a show off, this is clearly not his thing but he might take part in the battle round.

"Next on the stage is, Shauna Sana!" The MC announced as Shauna came running out onto the stage with a Pokeball in hand. She was wearing her normal attire but instead of having her hair in pig-tails it was loose and falling freely.

"You're up, Venomoth!" Shauna shouted as she threw her Pokeball. In a flash of light, the bug poison type appeared but the weird thing was, her wings seemed to be sparkling. "Start off with Powder Wind, Venomoth!".

Serena and Misty looked at each other, neither of them have ever heard of a move called Powder Wind so what is she on about? Venomoth unleashed three different coloured powders from his wings, using a combination of Stun Spore (which has a yellow colour), Poison Powder (which has a purple colour) and Sleep Powder (which has a green colour).

Next Venomoth started to flap his wings and pushed the powders around on the wind. The girls remembered how Ash's Butterfree would do a similar thing to make the powders more likely to hit, but instead of just going forward. The wind started to spin around the Poison Moth Pokemon with the multicoloured powders covering her. Soon a rainbow coloured cocoon appeared around Venomoth.

"Now use Bug Buzz!" Shauna shouted.

Suddenly, a noise could be heard from within the cocoon. While it sounds nice, contrary to the normal use of Bug Buzz, the visual appeal was even greater as dark green lights burst out of the Powder cocoon, adding to the colourful display. Both Serena and Misty couldn't help but gawk at the design on stage.

"Time for the big finish, Venomoth. Use Zen Headbutt!" Shauna declared as she ran in front of the cocoon.

The green lights seemed to be shooting out from the same point within the cocoon although they shot out in all different directions. From that point, a blue dazzling ball appeared and it started moving towards the top of the cocoon. The design burst open as Venomoth shot out of the top with the psychic type move ending. The cocoon burst open and created the image of a Venomoth with the real Poison Moth at the top.

Shauna did a curtsy as both the design and Venomoth slowly landed. Venomoth landed on her head, doing her own curtsy while the design fade. The crowd erupted in cheers as the MC appeared on stage.

"Let's hear what our judges have to say about that grand performance by Shauna." The MC declared as she gestured towards the judges.

"The design and flare not only shows of Venomoth's power but also her beauty. 9.4." The first judge declared as his score appeared on the small screen in the centre of table which he is sat at. This judge is an older male, around forty with a red suit and black hair.

"It was simply, remarkable. 9.7." The second judge added. This judge is also may but quite a bit shorter than the others. He is in a navy-blue suit and looks to be around thirty-five in age.

"The shine on Venomoth's wings show just how healthy and well raised she is. 9.5" The final judge added who turned out to be Nurse Joy.

"And Shauna's total combine points is, 28.6. That is the highest score so far." The MC announced.

Serena and Misty watched as Shauna did one last curtsy with her Venomoth sat on her head before they took off the stage. There was a quick intermission where the powder was cleaned off the stage before the other coordinators had their chance. Although they varied in skill, both girls had to agree that Shauna's was by far the best. The score also agreed as no-body was able to overtake her score.

"Wow, who knew you could create such a great display with just one Pokemon." Serena told the orange haired girl sat next to her.

"Right, for a bug type Venomoth showed it wasn't only strong but beautiful too." Misty added.

"Toge!" Togepi cried out in excitement. Maybe if he could pull something like that off, he will show his dada how grown up he is.

"You liked it too, Togepi?" Serena asked.

"Priiiii!" Togepi cheered.

* * *

"Um Ash, where did this second scare come from?" Drake asked. Ash is currently lying on a beach towel while his brother is preforming first aid on him. He has a nasty cut down his chest and looking around, all the Pokemon except for one is out.

It is Sandslash who is not currently out. After half an hour of Ash talking to him and annoying him while exercising next to him, Sandslash snapped, he has heard the 'we will be a team' and 'I only want to help' speech before and it doesn't matter who says it, all humans are the same. In a fit of anger, Sandslash lashed out at Ash and it took Dragonair, Machamp and Pinsir to restrain him long enough so Ash could return him.

"Hehehe, I got it when I caught Sandslash." Ash chuckled nervously at his brother's question. Drake sighed and continued to clean his brother's wound. Lucky, it isn't too deep, nor did it hit anything vital like an archery or organ but it will leave a scare for life. The second one Ash has received from his ground type.

"Maybe you should just leave Sandslash in his Pokeball for today and let him calm down." Drake informed as he used a bandage to cover the wound until it closes up, he also sighed before maybe saying the next part. "And you might also want to consider what you're going to do with Sandslash.".

"What's that meant to mean?" Ash asked with offence clearly being taken.

"What I mean is, maybe you can't help Sandslash. It's been over a year and your still no closer to getting him to open up." Drake replied. "I know you don't want to hear it, Ash. But some people don't want help, the same can go for Pokemon as well.".

"... But." Ash tried to fight back.

"Look Ash, it is your decision. And I know if anyone can get him to open up, it's you." Drake replied. "But is it really worth getting any more scares when Sandslash has made no effort in return? I'm sure mum wouldn't be happy to find Sandslash has attacked you like this.".

Ash sweat dropped at what his mother would do if she found out about this. He doubts his Sandslash would even survive one night at the lab, especially if Gyarados hears about this too. Still, Ash can almost feel the pain radiating off Sandslash, it might be his aura, he is not sure about that but he can't let the ground type go if he is feeling like this. It is just not in Ash's nature, and the physical pain from these scares are nothing compared to the pain that is coming off Sandslash.

"Drake, I know it might seem strange but I can't let Sandslash go with how he is now." Ash explained. Ash knew the look on his brother's face was asking what he was on about as his brother packed the first aid kit away. Ash sat up and put his shirt back on, he doesn't want any questions being asked about his scares. "What I mean is, I can feel his pain. And I know if I just let him go, he will never move on.".

"If you are sure this is the right thing to do." Drake replied. "Just be sure tha...".

The raven-haired boy was cut off by three powerful roars. The first two are easy to guess but the third one is a little more awkward. Turning to the source, the two brothers saw their two Charizard but instead of battling each other, they are stood on top of another Charizard who appeared to be angry that they teamed up on him.

"Where did..." Ash went to ask.

"I have no idea." Drake answered.

"Oh no, not again Charizard." A somewhat familiar voice cried. Turning to the source they found Trevor and Tierno running on the beach.

"I am guessing that is your Charizard?" Drake asked.

"Yeah... Oh hey, it's you guys." Trevor replied. "Ash and Drake, right?".

"Yeah." Drake replied.

Another roar caused the group to look back to the trio of Charizard and all three were stood whilst facing each other. It is clear that they are getting ready to battle and it seems like Trevor's doesn't know about the not causing damage rule the twins told their own Charizard.

"It looks like they are going to fight." Trevor stated lamely. "This won't be pretty.".

"Not if I have anything to do about it." Ash replied. He put his fingers in him mouth and whistled. While most of his and Drake's Pokemon, none of the Charizard looked away from each other. "Dragonair, can you stop them please!".

The Dragon type sighed and told Lapras to hold on for a moment. Shooting out of the water, she sped through the air with an Extreme Speed. As soon as she was over the three over grown lizards, she coated her tail in water and swung the Aqua Tail around. The water type move struck Trevor's Charizard's head and knocked him to the ground.

Before the other two Charizard could respond, Dragonair wrapped her body around the two Flame Pokemon's necks and banged their heads together. While all three of the fire flying types were dazed, she unleashed several Thunder Waves from the jewel at her neck where she paralysed all three at once.

"Is that your Dragonair?" Tierno asked as Dragonair loomed over the three downed Pokemon. Of course, she would normally have a harder time against them but due to their previous battle, they are already tired although none would admit it.

"Yep..." Ash replied impressed by his dragon types show of strength. Dragonair looked at the four trainers not looking all too impressed.

"Your welcome." Dragonair told them. "Now if you excuse me, the child has almost mastered that move you asked me to teacher her.". Not waiting for a response, she returned to Lapras.

Said transport Pokemon was also impressed by her teacher's strength. It should be obvious that Dragonair is strong considering she is a dragon type and when she evolves becomes a pseudo legendary but seeing it in person makes it real. While Dragonair hasn't been as friendly as Pidgeot or Ash, and the way she speaks can be a little rude, once Lapras got to know her, the dragon turned out to be nice, in her own way.

The four trainers looked at each other before they realised they should go and check on their Charizard's, not only to make sure they are physically okay but also make sure that their prides weren't too badly damaged. Despite having the fact that they were tired from the previous bout, all being taken down by the one Pokemon after only a few moves wouldn't leave them feeling the best. Once they trainers appeared by their Pokemon, they used a combination of Paralysis heal and Super Potions to heal the damage they had taken. Lucky the status condition was enough to calm them down and they weren't so eager to battle once healed.

"So, what happened?" Drake asked the two new comers.

"We were having a practise battle on the beach a little bit away. My Blastoise against Trevor's Charizard." Tierno explained. "Of course, when he saw your two Charizard battling in the air, he wanted in on the action and abandond our battle to join theirs.".

The twins looked at Trevor's Charizard who had a sheepish grin on his face with a sweat drop. This Charizard really is a hot head, no pun intended. When they met on Pummelo Island he chased after a wild Pidgey who stole some food from him and today is left one battle to join another.

Once over the initial shock the group got back to do some training. Ash check on Lapras and was impressed that she already learnt Ice Beam, despite acting like a princess, Dragonair is one good teacher, because of this he decided to work with Lapras for a bit and set Dragonair onto her own training. They also stopped the battles between the Charizard and Pikachu and Cubone setting them on to their training programmes while Trevor and Tierno also joined in the training.

* * *

In the contest hall, once all 16 coordinators preformed the top four moved on to the second round. Shauna was still the highest scoring out of them which meant she moved on. She was joined by a girl with a Meowth, a boy with a Cloyster and another boy with a Primeape. Although they were allowed to switch Pokemon between rounds, only Shauna used that and brought out her Ivysaur instead.

The first round was the two boys against each other, while Shauna and Ivysaur battled the girl with the Meowth. Shauna was the victor in her battle and moved onto the final with the boy with a Primeape. Soon it was time for the final battle.

"On my left, it's Shauna. And on my right, it's Joseph." The MC announced as both trainers gripped there Pokeballs. "Five minutes on the clock and... Begin!".

"You're on, Ivysaur!" Shauna shouted as she released her Seed Pokemon. With a mighty cry, the grass poison type appeared on the field.

"It's Showtime, Primeape!" Joseph shouted as he released his Pig Monkey Pokemon. The fighting type appeared on the battlefield and pounded his fists against the ground in a way to invigorate himself. Serena and Misty couldn't help but think it is a little funny with how both the Pokemon in the final are species that Ash has.

"Ivysaur, start off with Take Down and use Poison Powder." Shauna instructed.

Ivysaur cried as he started running at the fighting type whilst building up momentum. As he was running, trails of purple powder were released from the bulb on the grass poison type's back. It created a sort of cape image for the Seed Pokemon.

"Jump out of the way and use Fire Punch on that powder." Joseph instructed.

Primeape grunted and jumped clear above the grass poison type as he clenched his fists which burst into flames. As he flew over Ivysaur, he punched his fist down in to the trail of Poison Powder behind Ivysaur who brought himself to a stop before he took recoil damage for the Take Down which missed. The Fire Punch set the powder a light and it looked like Ivysaur was going to get burnt by the raging flames. As Primeape landed a safe distance away.

"Use that fire in a Sunny Day!" Shauna shouted.

Ivysaur crouched down and started to take in solar energy as the flames closed in. Once the flames were right above him, he shot a ball of white energy into the air, this ball acted like a powerful sun and it took the flames into the air with it. Exploding once it reached its height, using the flames to make like a firework.

"Wow, what a way to use her opponents counter attack." The MC announced as the audience gawked at the sight.

"Well let's see you counter this, Thrash Primeape!" Joseph replied.

Primeape turned to the grass poison type and smirked. Stamping his feet caused a cloud of dust to appear around them. Shooting out of the cloud of dust, Primeape went storming towards Ivysaur in a show of speed and powder.

"We'll do just that, Vine Whip Ivysaur." Shauna smirked confidently.

Ivysaur let out a mighty cry as he unleashed four vines from the bulb on his back. He tried to use the Vines to restrain the fighting type, but to Primeape's superior speed and fast reflexes, Ivysaur couldn't find an open spot. Before Shauna could change tactics, Primeape crashed into the Seed Pokemon and sent him flying.

Ivysaur landed in front of his trainer and struggled to push himself up. As he struggled to his feet, Primeape turned around and was charging at the grass poison type ready to land another Thrash attack.

"Grass Knot!" Shauna shouted in a panick.

It seems like the she has lost the advantage but she is determined to win her forth ribbon today. Ivysaur pushed himself up with a similar determination and closed his eyes as he focused. Two blades of grass sprout out of the ground and tied together, catching Primeape's foot and it caused him to fall over.

"Now finish it with Solar Beam!" Shauna shouted in excitement.

Ivysaur started to take in sunlight and thanks to the previously used Sunny Day, the Solar Beam was charged a lot faster. Primeape was struggling to his feet as the white beam of grass type energy was fired out of his bulb. It struck the Pig Monkey Pokemon and exploded upon contact. The fighting type was sent flying thanks to the explosion and landed on his back with swirls in his eyes.

"With twenty seconds left on the clock, Shauna wins by a knockout victory." The MC announced.

Looking towards the score board, it showed that Shauna had lost little under half her points while the other trainer had lost around three quarters before the remaining points and his photo disappeared. Shauna's picture took up the screen with a picture of each of her Pokemon used and the word winner underneath.

With the battle over, Shauna was present with the Mandarin Island Contest ribbon and with the competition over, she left as did Serena and Misty, meeting up outside the contest hall where they decided to go to a beach so Serena could practice some of her own combinations.

* * *

"Okay every, come on out!" Serena shouted as she threw her six Pokeballs into the air, like Ash and Drake, Serena also made a few rotations so her current team appeared in front of her on the beach. The team consists of: Delphox, Beedrill, Kadabra, Eevee, Farfetch'd and Kabuto.

In hindsight, maybe this isn't the best team to practise contest combinations with. While she is sure Delphox and Eevee would like them just as much as she does and if anything, Farfetch'd will like the battle rounds because he is a show off but both Beedrill and Kadabra is a serious battler, which means they will probably find this sort of thing a waste of time. Not to mention Kabuto hasn't really got any battle experience let alone contest experience. Still, they should give it a try.

"Hey guys, is time for some training." Serena told her six Pokemon. "We've just came back from watching a Pokemon contest and they look really fun, I think you would also like them.".

Just like Serena predicted, Delphox and Eevee looked excited to give that sort of thing a try as they have seen some contest stuff when Serena was looking them up and they definitely seem like something they will enjoy. Beedrill, Kadabra and Farfetch'd, however, don't seem the least bit interested. Kabuto is shaking in a combination of nerves and excitement. He really hates being weak and timid so getting stronger is one thing he would love but his timidness is still there and after seeing how intense some training sessions can get he can't deny that the prospect is scaring him.

"Wow Serena, all your Pokemon look great!" Shauna exclaimed in excitement.

"Hehehe, thanks Shauna." Serena chuckled lightly before turning back to her Pokemon. "Guys, this is our new friend, Shauna. She was the winner of the contest and she offered to show you a demonstration of both her appeal round performance and a mock contest battle.".

While not the most excited at testing out these contest things, the boys did agree to watch the two shows. They all respect their trainer so it is the least they can do, plus they might find something they like with the show.

Misty released her on hand team of: Starmie, Goldeen, Tentacruel, Kingler, Psyduck, and Poliwag and while Goldeen had to stay in the water the others joined Serena's Pokemon to watch Shauna's demonstration.

First, Shauna showed off the same appeal display with Venomoth which she used in the contest. While certainly impressive, the three boys had their own thought and it appealed most to Farfetch'd since he likes to show off but his typical thing is showing off with his battling skill and strength.

Shauna let out her Ivysaur next and she had her two Pokemon enter a mock contest battle, and let them act on their own without her input. Now this was something that appealed to Farfetch'd. He isn't too fond of the first thing but showing off in battle is his speciality. Beedrill and Kadabra, on the other hand, weren't impressed with what they saw. Although out of the two of them, Beedrill was more willing to give it ago because he doesn't want to get disappointed.

Serena was working with Shauna, Delphox, Eevee, and Kabuto to come up with an appeal round performance's. While Venomoth and Ivysaur started working with Beedrill, Kadabra and Farfetch'd. Beedrill was sparring with Venomoth while trying out the advice the fellow bug poison type gave him while Farfetch'd sparred with Ivysaur in a similar manner.

The only one not getting involved was Kadabra. He watched the displays and listened to the advice about doing it right, and while it looks very pretty he can't help but think it is a waste of time. He is a strong Pokemon, he loves to battle, but what is the point in making his moves 'appealing' for the spectator of the battle, it won't cause any extra damage. On the contrary, by focusing on a moves appeal he would be losing precious training time to make his attacks more powerful. He really likes Serena and wouldn't want to upset her but he can't lower himself to do something so pointless, he is a smart psychic type after all.

"Hey Serena, it looks like a couple of your Pokemon aren't doing too well." Shauna pointed out. The girls just left the three Pokemon to work on the basic manuvers to base their appeal performance from but none of them could hold a candle to Venomoth's performance, which is understandable since it is there first attempt.

Serena looked over to said Pokemon and what she saw surprised her. Farfetch'd was going at Ivysaur in a proper contest battle, of course Ivysaur easily countered all of the normal flying types attacks but Farfetch'd seems to be enjoying himself.

Next, she saw Beedrill who was trying to get a hang of this new battle style whilst sparring with Venomoth but was having trouble getting a hang of it and as a result he was getting angry with himself.

Although the biggest surprise is that she can't see Kadabra anywhere. He doesn't have a partner so maybe he is working by himself? Well she can search for him later, right now she needs to give a talk with Beedrill. With her mind set, she walked over to the two bug types. The practise match stopped and Beedrill flew in front of her.

"Hey Beedrill, not having much luck with this whole thing?" Serena asked. Beedrill nodded clearly upset. He isn't much of a coordinating Pokemon from what he's found but he really likes Serena and doesn't want to let her down. "It's okay, Beedrill. I need to find Kadabra so take a break but once I'm done we can work together.". Beedrill nodded in agreement and flew off to clear his head. Serena smiled before she started to look for her pure Psychic type.

Beedrill was flying across the beach as he tried to remember everything Venomoth told him and was shown by Shauna's two Pokemon. _Sigh_ , this isn't good, he was Serena's first caught Pokemon and other than Delphox has been with her for the longest time. If she wants to become a coordinator he wants to support her fully but he just isn't built for Contests. Maybe he would only hold her and his team mates back.

As he was flying he noticed that he had gone far away from the group, guess whilst in his thoughts he went further than intended. He was about to turn around and go back when something caught his eye. It was like a small marble had washed up out of the sea. It was like he was drawn towards it and he went to investigate.

Using his two stingers, Beedrill picked the stone up and looked at it. It seems to be a sort of marble but with a flame design in the centre. The marble is see-through but the flame consists of two colours, yellow and black.

" _Greetings, my child. If you have found this, it means you are one of my chosen one's Pokemon or his life partner's_." A voice appeared in Beedrill's head. This freaked the bug poison type out. " _I can see, you are one of his partner's Pokemon. That does not matter as both you and your trainer will be supporting him in times of need and thus I present you with this gift. Neither your trainer nor anyone else know about this until she can wield the ability to unleash both its and yourselves true power. Just keep it safe and you will know when you should reveal it... Goodbye and good luck on your travels with them."._

Okay, that was creepy. Whoever that voice was, it seemed to know about Beedrill, Serena and Ash. But who is this chosen one he was on about? Could it be Ash, that is the name the dinosaur refers to him as and he is Serena's boyfriend. It would match up. Still, the words he heard did help him. While not convinced about the talk of supporting Ash along with Serena but he does know he is Serena's partner, she is his trainer and he has no interest in leaving her side. So, what if he can't do contests, she has always been nice to him and helped him get over anger issues when he first evolved. Whatever this stone is, and whatever that special power is supposed to be released doesn't matter to the Poison Bee Pokemon, he will keep it as a reminder, one to remind him that no matter what he won't leave his trainers side... Besides, Serena wouldn't let him leave without a fight. He has an awesome trainer.

Putting the marble under his wings for safety, Beedrill started to fly back to the group. He may not be built for contests but he will train at them to help Serena in anyway necessary. Who knows, maybe he can pick up a contest skill or two as time goes on.

Back with Serena, it didn't take long for her to find out where Kadabra went off to, due to a powerful explosion from a bunch of rocks. It wouldn't take a genius to know it was caused by a Pokemon training. Serena went to investigate and found Kadabra destroy giant boulders with his Psychic attack. While certainly strong, it wasn't showing off any sort of appeal. Kadabra isn't an idiot and knew his trainer was watching. As the last boulder crumbled onto the beach, he teleported in front of her.

"Dabra?" Kadabra asked.

"I was worried Kadabra, I looked around and couldn't see you." Serena answered. She might not understand a Pokemon's native tongue like Ash can but she knows her own Pokemon well enough to know what they mean. "Your Psychic was really strong. You've been training whilst at the lab, right?".

"Kadabra." Kadabra nodded to answer the question. It may seem like he is strict but he is just a serious Pokemon by nature. He doesn't mean anything by it, and Serena understands, he is a no nonsense, or beat around the bush sort of Mon. As such, Serena needs to be the same with him.

"But that didn't look much like a contest move. What's the matter Kadabra?" Serena asked clearly to upset. While she is excited to give contests a try, she would hate to think she is forcing her Pokemon to do something they don't want to. Of course, Delphox, Eevee, Farfetch'd and Kabuto are really enjoying themselves. Plus, Serena is sure her other Pokemon like, Tangela, Seadra, Kangashkan and Seel would also enjoy contests but Kadabra is another matter.

"Dabra, Kadabra." Kadabra replied.

"Your saying you can't bring yourself to waste time on making moves appealing and only want to get stronger?" Serena asked with a sigh. Kadabra nodded his head to show his answer to Serena's question. "If you don't want to do contests Kadabra, that's okay. I won't make you do something you're not comfortable with.".

"Kadabra." Kadabra replied.

"It's okay, Kadabra. But I am still going to compete in contests, the others are really enjoying this and I think I will as well." Serena explained. She doesn't want to try and trick him but he should know what her plans are. "I don't know if we can do stuff together apart from training.".

"Kadabra Dabra, Kadabra, Dabra Kadabra." Kadabra explained. He doesn't want to be selfish and make Serena change her plans just for him, she is doing the right thing by not making him compete in contests so he will be here to support her. If she needs someone to battle, not just to show off, he will be her Mon.

"Thanks, Kadabra." Serena smiled and engulfed her psychic type in a hug. Kadabra reluctantly returned the gesture. It's not that he doesn't like Serena, it is just the fact that he is very serious by nature and thus showing affection isn't really his thing. As the hug ended, Serena noticed the area Kadabra was training in had a mountain of crumbled up rocks, at least twenty boulders were destroyed in the pile. "Now why don't you take a rest, you have been working hard. Not to mention I need to speak with Beedrill as well.".

"Dabra." Kadabra nodded and happily let Serena return him to his Pokeball.

Once she clipped her Psychic types Pokeball back to her belt, Serena made her way to the beach where she found Beedrill waiting patiently. She sighed as she would probably need to do the same with Beedrill as what she did with Kadabra. It pains her as they are not only her Pokemon but her friends and she would've loved to compete in contests with them. Although she could never force them to do something they are not comfortable with.

"Hey Beedrill." Serena called out to her bug poison type as she approached. She was surprised when Beedrill made a b-line flight and engulfed her with a hug, which she happily returned. The surprising thing is, Beedrill hasn't been one to show affection since evolving. Sure, she helped him get over his anger issues after evolving but their relationship has always been one of Pokemon and trainer. Beedrill has never been one for the lovey-dovey stuff.

"Bee Bee." Beedrill explained which confused Serena.

"Your saying that you want to help me win contests?" Serena asked. "I just told Kadabra that he didn't need to compete in them if he doesn't want to, and I was going to say the same to you. I don't want to make you do something you're not comfortable with.".

"Beedrill, Bee Beedrill, Bee." Beedrill explained.

"Your saying that I'm not forcing you and you want to help me in contests?" Serena asked. "It's just that you're not good with them at the minute, so you want to double down on the training so we are ready for when it is time to compete?". Beedrill nodded his head in agreement with his trainer's statements.

"How about we have a proper contest battle than, Serena." Shauna suggested as she and her Ivysaur and Venomoth approached them.

Serena dared a glance at her Farfetch'd who was sat by himself sulking. It is pretty obvious that Ivysaur beat the normal flying type which wouldn't sit well with the wild duck. Of course, in a contest battle, it doesn't matter who has the type advantage, a lot of time it comes down to the most experienced and this was Farfetch'd first time trying that sort of battle.

"Sure, what do you say Beedrill?" Serena asked her first caught Pokemon.

"Bee Bee!" Beedrill cheered and entered a battle stance.

* * *

After a hard day of training both groups decided to retire to the Pokemon centre. Surprisingly, both groups appeared at the same time. Drake and Misty went ahead to the cafeteria while the Kalos trio entered the centre to discuss their previous disagreement. This left Ash and Serena out by themselves.

"Hi..." Serena greeted once they were alone.

"Hey... How did the contest go?" Ash asked.

"Oh, good." Serena smiled. "Shauna won her fourth ribbon and we got to give it a try ourselves afterwards.".

"That's good." Ash smiled. He frowned when he saw his girlfriend upset. "Hey, what's the matter?".

"It's just that Kadabra doesn't like contests at all." Serena explained. "I told him he doesn't need to compete if he doesn't want to but it just won't feel right if one of my Pokemon is only training and I am not doing stuff with him.".

"Don't worry about it, Serena. Not every Pokemon is going to like the same things. Remember our first date, with the tag team tournament?" Ash asked. Serena nodded her head. "Well I am sure there will be small tournaments like that no matter where we go, you could always use Kadabra and any other Pokemon who don't like contests. You'll still be a team and that won't change.".

"Thanks Ash." Serena smiled. He is right, Kadabra might not like contests but he is still her Pokemon. They can enter other battle tournaments together. She moved forward and engulfed Ash in a hug.

"Arg!" Ash cried out in pain.

"Ash! What's the matter!?" Serena asked in a panick as Ash ended the hug and looked in pain. He sheepishly grinned at his girlfriend, he was hoping he could keep what Sandslash did secret as she can be as scary as his mum when he's in danger.

"Hehehe, remember when I told you I planned on training with Sandslash?" Ash asked with a sheepish grin and light chuckle.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	8. Sandslash Splashes Out

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, one chapter I have been looking forward to since I started this project. It focuses around Sandslash. While he might start listening to Ash, that won't fully change his personality. He will continue to be tough and un-trusting with an aggressive fighting style. Also, his backstory is linked to a one-time character from the anime who always bothered me. I will say, we also get to see another competitor in the Orange League. I plan for the group to run into all five before the league itself (with Tierno and Trevor being last chapter). Anyway, remember to vote in the latest poll. It is up until Ash catches his next Pokemon (which is his cannon catch) and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 8: Sandslash Splashes Out_

The group is currently on Lapras' back as they are sailing towards Navel Island and Ash's next gym battle. Serena wasn't happy when she found out Ash received a second scar from his ground type and even asked if he would send Sandslash back to the lab for a bit. Ash refused, as Serena guessed he would, since he wants to help Sandslash out. He may not know what the ground type went through before he caught him, but he can feel a great amount of pain coming from him, and Ash wouldn't be able to look at himself if he didn't even try to help him. He is Sandslash's trainer after all.

Ash took the ground type's Pokeball off his belt and looked at it with a frown. Even with Sandslash in the Pokeball, he can still feel the pain and sadness, and all it is doing is motivating him to find some way to help him. Hmm, while spending time with them is one way to create a close bond with his Pokemon, battling with them is also useful. If he can show Sandslash that he wants to work with him maybe Sandslash will return the gesture. It has to be better than nothing.

"Cheer up, Ash." Serena told her boyfriend when she saw him looking at a Pokeball. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Sandslash's. Despite everything, Ash is still determined to help the ground type, while it is one thing Serena loves about him, she would hate for him to get hurt any more than he already has.

"Sorry Serena." Ash apologised as he clipped Sandslash's Pokeball back to his belt. He doesn't know when he will get to have a proper battle, they are just trying to cover as much water to Navel before sundown. There are several islands near their current location but not the civilised ones. Which means they will be camping out no matter what, just depends on which one.

If Lapras gets tired after the hard training session yesterday than he might be able to battle one of his travelling companions. Speaking off, for her first training session Lapras did incredibly well. With Dragonair's help, she mastered Ice Beam, although not as big or as powerful as the dragon type's, it is still really impressive considering her young age. While he isn't sure about which gym he will use her in, Ash has promised her that she will get that chance which has only motivated her more. While Lapras is still desperate to find her family, she can't help but think that this whole experience will be a positive one and a turning point in her maturity.

"You don't need to apologise Ash, your only worried about Sandslash." Serena reassure with a loose hug from the side. She made sure not to hit Ash's scar which despite closing up over the night, is still sore. "I just don't want to see yourself get hurt whilst helping Sandslash.".

"I think it's a little late for that, Serena." Drake interjected at an attempt with some dry humour. He sweat dropped when he saw the honey blonde girl narrow her eyes at him. First Leaf and now Misty, its official, the opposite gender is the one thing that can scare Drake without argument. "I'll just be over here with Cubone.".

"You do that." Misty told Drake in a snarky tone. She is currently bonding with her Poliwag, and is purposely trying to distract herself as she wants to give the couple some privacy. That is harder done when stuck on Lapras' back however.

Serena looked back to her boyfriend once his brother was no longer looking, she is trying to be serious with Ash as it concerns his safety after what Sandslash did yesterday, and Drake decided to crack a joke. Or try to, at least. She gets mad when she sees Ash smiling at his brothers joke.

"Seriously Ash, I don't want you to get hurt." Serena told her boyfriend angrily. The smile on Ash's face faded quickly when he realised Serena was getting angry, while he hasn't experienced it himself, Brock use to tell him horror stories of what happens when a guy's girlfriend gets angry, needless to say he hopes to never experience it. No matter how unlikely that is.

"Sorry Serena, I promise I'll be more careful." Ash reassured in his most convincing voice possible. "I just want to help Sandslash.".

"I know you do Ash." Serena replied sympathetically. "I'm just worried that you'll hurt yourself if you're not careful.".

"Actually, it's more likely that Sandslash will hurt him before Ash hurts himself." Pikachu pipped up, earning a small chuckle from Ash. Serena glared down at the electric type, she might not know what he said but something tells her that it isn't helping her cause.

"I won't translate that." Ash sweat dropped as he slightly moved Pikachu away from his not-so-happy girlfriend. Lucky, both Ash and Pikachu were saved by Lapras who let out a call to Ash. "What's up, Lapras?".

"A boat is coming towards us." Lapras informed with slight panick in her voice. While she can't know who or what is on that boat, it is bringing back bad memories of that boat which started chasing her group and lead to her getting separated from her family. Ash sensed her uneasiness and rubbed her head.

"Calm down Lapras, they probably don't even know were here." Ash reassured as he rubbed her head. Lapras cooed under his touch. "Let's just move to the side and let them pass. Everything will be fine.".

Lapras nodded and she scooted to the side, leaving a wide area for the boat to pass through. She was still scared and Ash could sense this. He turned and kept her company through the whole event. Lapras felt like such a wimp. They are travelling through water which has many populated islands, of course they would encounter a boat at some point. After feeling like she was growing up with yesterday's training session, she is still the same scared little girl from that night.

As the boat closed in, Lapras started crying and buried her head in Ash's chest. Ash didn't mind comforting the transport Pokemon as she has clearly been through a traumatic experience, and at a very young age as well. To Lapras' horror, the boat seemed to slow down as it closed in and it even moved towards the group and stopped next to them. At this point, Lapras refused to move out of her current position with her eyes closed and head buried in Ash's chest.

The boat is pure white and isn't actually that big. The group was confused as to why the boat would approach them like this, but their questions were answered when the driver left the cabin and was revealed to be Virgil with his Eevee.

"Hey guys, what are you doing out here?" Virgil asked as he walked to the side of the boat. He frowned when he saw the clearly young transport Pokemon. "Is your Lapras alright?".

"Um, I can explained." Ash sweat dropped. "But would you mind if we come aboard, I think Lapras will feel better in her Pokeball.".

"Sure, be my guest." Virgil smiled. He helped the four trainers board his boat and Ash quickly returned his transport Pokemon with a word of thanks. Once he clipped the Pokeball to his belt, Virgil got down to business. "So, what's up with your Lapras.".

"She was separated from her family, and we're trying to help her find them whilst travelling around the Orange Islands." Ash explained. "All we know is, she got separated from them because a ship attack so she has a fear of ships in general.".

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wish I could help but I don't know where to find a school of Lapras around here." Virgil replied. "And I didn't mean to scare her, I can't imagine how scary something like that would be to go through, especially at such a young age.".

"Yeah, I just hope we can reunite her with her parents." Ash replied sadly. He truly has bonded with his transport Pokemon, but the best place for her is with her parents. "So, Virgil, not to sound rude but why did you stop by us?".

"Oh, I slowed the boat down when I saw Lapras as to not startle her." Virgil replied with a sweat drop. In hindsight, he probably startled her more by slowing down, he didn't mean to scare her and slowing down is the typical curious thing to do to Pokemon on the water. "But when I saw it was you guys, I wanted to speak with ya.".

"How come?" Drake asked.

"I want to challenge Ash to a battle." Virgil answered with a confident smirk. "I've already battled both Harrison and Alvin who are competing and I want to battle all competitors in the Orange League before it begins.".

"Are the competitors allowed to do something like that?" Serena asked with curiosity.

"There aren't any rules against it." Virgil explained. "And because it is a knock out tournament, there is a chance any two trainers won't be battling at all.".

"Sounds good to me!" Ash smiled. He has been wanted to get in a battle, and this is the perfect chance. While using Sandslash might not listen, Ash has to try and give him a chance. Maybe if Ash shows Sandslash that he trusts him than Sandslash will start to open up.

"Great, there is a vacant island near here where we can battle." Virgil informed.

He went back into the cabin and started the boat back up. It didn't take long, maybe five minutes for the group to reach the island. Once they docked at the vacant island they climbed onto the beach.

"This island is really pretty." Serena commented as she looked around at the tropical paradise.

"All of the Orange Archipelago is." Virgil smiled before turning his attention to Ash. "So, Ash, how does a two on two battle sound?".

"Sounds good." Ash replied as he looked at Serena. "Hey Serena, do you mind watching Togepi while we battle?".

"Of course." Serena smiled as Ash handed the young fairy type to her. Serena stole a peck on Ash's check before he could move and face Virgil. "Good luck.".

"Dada?" Togepi questioned as he looked at his daddies red face. It is actually quite funny to see, but why did he turn red and why did Serena give his daddy a kiss, his daddy isn't going to bed is he? The others decided not to comment to save the poor boy from any further embarrassment.

"Since I challenged you, Ash, I'll show my Pokemon first." Virgil smirked as he gripped his Pokeball. "You're up, Vaporeon!". The water type eeveelution appeared on the sand and let out an elegant cry like a sea siren. Ash didn't need to scan the eeveelution since Misty has one, even though she is currently at the Gym.

To Ash's surprise before he could even think about who he should use, Pikachu jumped in front of him and sparked his cheeks in an offensive manner. Ash knows his starter well enough to know that he wants to battle. While he wants to give Sandslash a battle, it is three aside so this wouldn't be two bad.

"Okay buddy, I choose you." Ash replied and let his starter take the first battle. One of Serena's Pokeballs started shaking and her Eevee let herself out. She barked some encouragement to her boyfriend. Pikachu smirked as he faced Vaporeon, no way will he lose with his girlfriend here.

* * *

 _Ash VS Virgil:_

"Okay Pikachu, let's start with Quick Attack." Ash instructed.

Both Ash and Pikachu like to start off with a barrage of speed attacks to throw there opponents of course. Unfortunately, Virgil isn't just a run of the mill trainer, he is another competitor in the Orange League. Kicking off from his starting position, Pikachu made a b-line for the water type eeveelution.

"Protect." Virgil countered.

Vaporeon entered a defensive stance, and a protective barrier surrounded the water type eeveelution. Pikachu was moving so fast that neither he or Ash had a chance to change tactics. Pikachu hit the barrier and bounced back. Landing in roughly the same position that he started in.

"Let's see them block this, Thunder bolt." Ash replied without missing a beat.

Pikachu smirked and jumped into the air, unleashing a massive electrical bolt out of his cheeks (although it covered his whole body). Both Ash and Virgil know that Protect will fail if used constantly, although Virgil has planned for situations like this. He is a ranger after all.

"Iron Tail on the sand." Virgil instructed.

Vaporeon jumped into the air as his tail became coated in metal. Doing a forward roll in the air, Vaporeon slammed his hardened tail into the ground and it caused a load of sand into the air. The Thunderbolt struck the sand, but couldn't pass through it. As the sand fell, the Thunderbolt came to an end.

"Muddy Water!" Virgil instructed.

Vaporeon let out a battle cry as a load of dirty water shot out of his body. The wave was shooting out in all directions but to the rest of the groups relief, they used a ledge at the point where the beach ends and the land begins, meaning they can't get affected by the move.

"Dodge it with Quick Attack." Ash instructed.

Pikachu shot off to the side to avoid the head on wave seeing as it was travelling towards Ash with more force. Going around the attack, Pikachu started to charge at the water type eeveelution as Ash had his feet covered by the Muddy Water.

While it didn't really hurt Ash because it lost most of its force by the time it reached him, but it was very cold. Pikachu started to run towards Vaporeon, but came to a stop when he touched the sand which was hit by the Muddy Water because of the effect it had on the sand. Making it all sludgy and hard to move fast on.

"I know Pikachu rely's on speed in a lot of battles, Ash. That's why I had Vaporeon change the field to make it that much harder." Virgil explained.

"Well my Pikachu is more than just speed." Ash smirked confidently. "And you've limited Vaporeon as well.".

"Is that a fact?" Virgil asked with a confident smirk. "Use your own Quick Attack.".

Vaporeon shot across the sludgy ground with very impressive speed. Easily transcending the terrain by jumping over most of it. Ash, and everyone else were shocked to see the water type eeveelution not struggle with sludgy sand at all. Virgil decided he should explain it to them.

"I'm a ranger, remember. Vaporeon has helped me rescue Pokemon from active landslides, this terrain is nothing compared to that." Virgil explained.

As Virgil finished speaking, he struck Pikachu head on and sent the electric mouse flying. Pikachu landed face first in the sludgy sand, he was quick to pick himself up but some of the sand remained in his eyes, making hard to see. Ash knew he had to do something because Virgil has been running this battle so far, but since Pikachu has hindered sight he needs a move that doesn't use that scent... That's it.

"Quick Attack, again, Vaporeon." Virgil instructed.

The water type eeveelution started jumping around the terrain again as Pikachu stood helplessly with his eyes closed. However, Virgil was sure not to get to confident since he knows Ash is a capable trainer. Anyone competing in the Orange League is after all.

"Grass Knot!" Ash shouted.

Due to Pikachu not needing sight to use this move, it is perfect. Pikachu focused with his eyes closed and two blades of grass sprouted out of the ground, the two blades tied together and Vaporeon's foot got caught. Cancelling the Quick Attack, Vaporeon slide into the sludgy sand.

"Quick Pikachu, launch a Thunderbolt forward." Ash instructed.

Despite not being able to see himself, Pikachu trusts Ash. The electric mouse Pokemon unleashed a powerful electric shock out of his cheeks and it went flying towards the downed Vaporeon.

"Iron Tail the ground." Virgil countered.

Vaporeon struggled to his feet as his tail became coated in metal, with one swift thrust downwards, Vaporeon planted his tail in the sand. As the Thunderbolt closed in, the metal on Vaporeon's tail drew it on and it curved around the water type eeveelution. Hitting the tail, the electricity moved through it and was expelled into the ground. By planting his tail in the ground, Vaporeon was grounded meaning he didn't even feel the effects of the Thunderbolt.

"Water Pulse!" Virgil shouted.

Vaporeon's tail returned to normal as it left the ground. Vaporeon let out a battle cry as a sphere of water formed in front of Vaporeon's mouth. The water type eeveelution shot the Water Pulse towards Pikachu. Ash smirked as he saw his chance, although it is a risk.

"Listen Pikachu, I need you to brace yourself as I want you to take the Water Pulse head on." Ash told his starter.

Pikachu nodded and tensed up, while not crazy about taking a hit without even attempting to dodge, Pikachu trusts his trainer and has an idea of what he is going for, this will definitely solve their main issue at the minute. The Water Pulse flew across the ground and struck Pikachu directly in the face, with the water washing the sand out of Pikachu's eyes. Once the attack was over, Pikachu could see clearly again, although both Pokemon are getting tired.

"Aqua Ring." Virgil called out.

Vaporeon let out an elegant cry as his entire body was surrounded around water. Vaporeon's body glew white as some of his health was restore. As the light and water faded, Vaporeon looked in a much better position, not full health but certainly better than Pikachu.

"Oh, come on!" Pikachu cried out in anger. He hates Pokemon who use self-healing moves, it is an unfair advantage in a battle.

"Well Pikachu, might as well test out your new move." Ash told his starter trying not to get discouraged by the turn of events. "Use Electro Ball!".

Pikachu growled and crouched down, raising his tail in the air. Concentrating as hard as he could, a yellow ball of electricity formed at the end of his tail. It was growing in size but at a slower rate than Vaporeon's Water Pulse.

"Counter with Shadow Ball!" Virgil shouted.

Vaporeon let out another battle cry as a purple and black ball formed in front of his mouth. It grew much quicker than Pikachu's Electro Ball (down to Pikachu still getting use to using this move) and both Pokemon launched their respective attacks.

The two attacks seemed to be going for a head on collision but Vaporeon's Shadow Ball is much bigger. As the two closed in, the wind surround the Shadow Ball threw the Electro Ball of course due to it being the weaker attack. The Electro Ball hit the ground and imploded no-where near Vaporeon as the Shadow Ball closed in on Pikachu.

"Stop it with Iron Tail!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu quickly coated his tail in metal and did a small jump into the air. Swinging his tail at the incoming ghost type move, it sliced through the Shadow Ball and cut it in two. The two halves hit the ground separately and were harmless. Virgil smirked inwardly as he saw his next attack plan.

"Shadow Ball." Virgil instructed.

Ash had a perplexed looked, why would Virgil use the same attack twice in a row when he saw Pikachu easily counter it? Well, he can't think about it too much because the Shadow Ball is closing in on Pikachu.

"Iron Tail, again." Ash countered.

Like before, Pikachu coated his tail in metal as he jumped into the air. Spinning around, he sliced the Shadow Ball in two. Unfortunately, that was exactly what Virgil wanted. Vaporeon also smirked as he knows what's next.

"Scald on the Iron Tail." Virgil instructed.

Vaporeon took an offensive stance before firing a blast of boiling hot water out of his mouth. The boiling hot water struck Pikachu's tail with great accuracy, since he has been trained to use water attack to put out fires he didn't have any sort of trouble hitting his target. With the metal still coating his tail, it made Pikachu more conductive to the heat. It soon became too much and Pikachu fell back with swirls in his eyes. Once he was down, Vaporeon stopped his attack.

Ash ran out and picked Pikachu up from the sludgy sand. He whispered some words of thanks and took him over to the group. Serena held him while Drake got out some medicine to heal him while Eevee sat beside him. Ash returned and looked at Virgil and Vaporeon with a flame of determination behind his eye.

"That was a good battle Ash, if it wasn't for Aqua Ring Pikachu could've won." Virgil told his opponent. "But I've been training Vaporeon to handle electric types because I didn't want her to be down if I need to use her against Drake.".

"Sorry Virgil, but only one of us will be facing Drake, and that is going to be me." Ash replied confidently. He moved his hand towards his remaining Pokeballs. He has to be careful of the sludgy sand which rules out Tauros, and Lapras is still too young for a proper battle. Both Dragonair and Charizard can fly so the field doesn't really affect them but Ash had already decided on who he would use. "I choose you, Sandslash!".

To say the group was shocked would be an understatement. They know Ash wants to get Sandslash to open up but so far Sandslash hasn't listen to Ash in any battle, it was because of Sandslash that Ash received his penalty back in the Indigo League. Surely Dragonair or Charizard would be better.

The ground type appeared out of his Pokeball and growled as he looked around. The sand that he landed on isn't like normal sand, it is almost like some sort of marsh land. That doesn't matter because he spotted Vaporeon who was just healed by the Aqua Ring again. The water type eeveelution entered a battle stance and Sandslash growled threateningly, it wanted to battle, did it?

Virgil was intrigued by Ash's choice of Pokemon, he would willingly put himself at a disadvantage? Well, Virgil did the same so maybe Ash is trying to prove something, but the most intriguing part is Sandslash's behaviour. Sandslash are pretty tame Pokemon by all accounts, only acting aggressive when protecting their young, yet this one is really mad. Virgil can tell this will be a tough opponent despite the type advantage.

Without warning, Sandslash jumped into the air and landed on the sand with a heavy thump. It used Earthquake and the ground was shaking violently. Both Ash and Virgil had a hard time keeping their balance while Vaporeon had it worse. Even the ground was being thrown around due to the power of the attack. Virgil was surprised by the sudden attack since Ash didn't say anything but he had to act as Sandslash started running at Vaporeon with an X-Scissor.

"Hide in the water, Vaporeon." Virgil instructed.

Vaporeon pushed himself up and quickly retreated to the ocean where his body camouflaged into his environment. This isn't a move but a natural characteristic of Vaporeon as a defensive tactic when in the wild.

"Calm down, Sandslash. Maybe you can sense Vaporeon if you focus." Ash suggested.

Sandslash roared angrily at his trainer before turning back to the water. In his anger, he fired several poisonous stingers into the water. He used Poison Sting. Virgil was surprised by the ground types actions and knew this would be like facing a wild Pokemon rather than a trainer. He knew Aqua Ring would be activating again and that would give away his Vaporeon's location.

"Use Iron Tail to block the Poison Sting and get behind Sandslash." Virgil instructed.

Just like he predicted, the Aqua Ring reappeared and restored some of Vaporeon's health. This gave away the water types location and Sandslash wasted no time in redirecting his Poison Sting. Vaporeon coated his tail in metal and used it to intercept the poison type move. Sandslash stopped the attack when he saw it wasn't working and Vaporeon jumped Out of the water and landed behind Sandslash.

The ground type growled, this thing is only a coward, so far, all its done is hide and go on the defence, not to mention it is actually listening to one of those humans, how despicable. Extending his claws, Sandslash started to run at the water type eeveelution to use Crush Claw.

"Stop it, Sandslash!" Ash shouted but his voice fell on deaf ears.

"Ice Beam!" Virgil shouted.

Sandslash jumped to attack from above and stop Vaporeon from escaping again. Vaporeon opened his mouth and shot a beam of ice out of his mouth. The special attack hit Sandslash head on, and the ice started to cover his body. The attack also blew Sandslash away. Unfortunately, Sandslash went flying towards the water.

"No Sandslash!" Ash shouted as he saw the froze ground type land in the water. Without a second thought, he took off towards the water. He could hear his friends calling out but paid them no mind, he has to help Sandslash.

Jumping into the water, Ash swam at his hardest towards his ground type, but to his horror, the still frozen Sandslash started to sink. Ash wasted no time and dived after him. Although hard, Ash eventually reached the ground type. Ash tried his hardest to lift it back to the surface but to his dismay, the ice block which is Sandslash was too heavy.

Wrapping an arm around it, Ash went to reach for one of his Pokeballs but a strong current hit the duo. The raven-haired boy was push backwards along with his frozen ground type. The impact caused Ash to let go of the breath he was holding but he refused to let go of Sandslash. The outside world started to go black as Ash desperately reached for his belt. He doesn't care right now, either Dragonair or Lapras would work, he just needs one of them. As he lost consciousness he saw the light appear to show one of his Pokemon was released.

* * *

A bright(ish) light hit his eyes as they flickered open. It took a moment before his eyes adjusted to his current environment. _Sandslash_! In a panick, Ash quickly sat up but due to the fast movement, he started coughing.

"Ash! Are you alright?" A familiar voice asked. The voice belonged to Lapras, who nuzzled Ash's stomach. She was so scared when she had been called out and found Ash sinking in the water with that block of ice, not moving.

"I'm good, Lapras." Ash replied weakly as he took in his surrounds. They are in a cave with the only way in and out being over the water. Lapras is close to the edge and it seems like he was lay down near the edge. Ash realised Lapras must've saved him and left him there. "Thank you.".

"It's okay." Lapras replied before licking his cheek. She is so happy he is safe. Despite letting the others ride on her back and getting on alright with Pikachu, Lapras has only bonded with Ash and she doesn't know what she would do if something happened. At least she was able to help him.

Ash smiled as he stood up with a word of thanks to his transport Pokemon. He truly is grateful for what she did. Looking at the mouth of the cave shows that it is sunset and rain clouds are setting in. While not idea, they will need to stay here for the night. A quick check on his Pokegear showed that he doesn't have a strong signal. He wrote out a message to Serena, letting her know he is alright but stuck in a cave for the night. Hopefully he can get a bit of signal so the message sends (he is lucky the new bag his mum got him is completely water proof, so he doesn't have to worry about that).

"Sandslash!" Ash shouted as his mind went straight towards his ground type. He ended up here because he wanted to save the ground type, hopefully Lapras was able to help him too, otherwise he doesn't know what he could do to even try and find him... Would he even be able to find him?

"Over here, Ash." Lapras told her trainer.

Ash turned to see the Transport Pokemon pointing her head towards a dark corner. Ash slowly moved towards the direction and found the ground type lying on the floor. He was no-longer in a block of ice but was cold, wet and unconscious. Ash held his breath as he felt for a pulse. To his delight, he found one, although it was faint. Sandslash clearly won't survive the night if left in this condition. That was when Ash got an idea.

"I need your help, Charizard." Ash called out his fire flying type. Upon appearing in the cave, Charizard let out a massive battle roar. When he realised the situation they are in, he sweat dropped and scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "Charizard, can you lend me your fire? Sandslash needs heating up.".

Charizard nodded in understanding and moved his tail flame towards the ground type. He has never liked the ground type, especially after how he attacked Ash yesterday but the memory of being on his own death bed is all too clear in his mind. He increased the size and temperature of the fire and it was workings as slowly the colour started to return to Sandslash.

The ground type may have been getting heat from Charizard's tail but he was still shivering from the water that covered his body. Ash realised that if he left the flame to dry Sandslash than it would probably take all night. Not to mention it could leave Sandslash with pneumonia or hypothermia or something else. Opening his bag, Ash pulled out his towel. Unfortunately, he only has the one on him and while he needs to dry off himself, Sandslash is more important.

Ash approached the ground type and wrapped him in the blanket. Ash realised that because he was so close to the water that he was on wet ground, he can't blame Lapras because she did everything she could. Ash picked the ground type up and cradled him like a baby, he carried him further into the cave and lay him on dry ground, with Charizard making sure he kept his tail flame near both of them. As luck would have it, Charizard's flame also seemed to light up the entire cave. While the sun is still out now, it will soon go down and it is supposed to rain to, no doubt the light will help when that starts.

With Sandslash in a more stable condition, Ash stood up and took his jacket off. Since all his current clothes are soaking wet, he took his pyjama's out of his bag and quickly changed into them. Both his conscious Pokemon looked away to give him some privacy. Once he was changed his stomach growled.

"Man am I hungry... I bet the others are as well." Ash groaned. He picked up his Ultra Ball and Safari Ball, pressing the buttons he released his Tauros and Dragonair who appeared next to Charizard. "Sorry its kind've late guys, but I am guessing you're hungry.".

"Yes, but what are we doing in a cave Ash?" Dragonair asked.

"And where are the others?" Tauros asked.

"Let me get you your food guys, then I will explain what happened." Ash told his Pokemon. He knows his friends will take care of Pikachu but this is the first night that he won't be with Pikachu since starting his journey.

Ash moved to his bag and pulled out five bowls along with the pre-made Pokemon food. He is lucky Brock taught Serena all his recipes for Pokemon food otherwise he doesn't know what he would do in this situation. He poured out the different types of food into the bowls and placed them in front of the respective Pokemon.

Even though Sandslash is currently unconscious, he poured the ground type some food for when he wakes up. Once all of the Pokemon started eating, Ash searched in his bag for what he could have. All he found were a couple of pieces of fruit and a chocolate bar. He sat down and started to eat as he explained what happened.

Needless to say, Charizard, Tauros and Dragonair weren't happy about what they heard. Yesterday, the ground type attacked Ash and left a nasty scar on his chest and today because he refused to listen to Ash in battle. None of them would even think about doing that, and yet the ground type does it constantly, he almost ruined all of their demanding work at the Indigo League by doing the same thing, which resulted in Ash receiving a penalty.

Lapras was also disgusted at what the ground type did, even more so because she was the one to rescue both of them and spent hours worrying before Ash woke up, but she is still new to the group and is too timid to add her own views into the discussion. While she doesn't know much about what Sandslash has done in the past, she can say that she doesn't like the ground type much at all.

When Ash finished his food, he inspected his ground type and frowned when he noticed him shivering. It seems like the towel was doing next to nothing right now, he kneeled down beside the ground type and started to rub the ground type to both help dry him and warm him up.

Little did Ash or the other Pokemon know Sandslash regained consciousness. He took in his surrounds and realised what happened. He can't move due to the pain over his body, and decided to try to get some sleep. Than he heard them speak.

"Ash, I believe I speak for all members of our group when I say, it is time to let Sandslash go." Dragonair spoke up. Being the princess and ruler of the group, it falls to her to be the voice of reason after all. Ash looked at his dragon type with a combination of shock and sadness. "When will he cross a line, you deem too far?".

"She's right Ash." Tauros added. "He hasn't even made an attempt to speak with any of us. I know I really only spend time with Aerodactyl and Primeape but I'd like to think if any of the others need help than all they need to do is ask. While the only thing they would get from Sandslash is the threat of being attacked.".

"Not to mention what he's done to you, Ash." Charizard continued with his own thoughts. "Yesterday, he left a second scar on you. And today you almost died because he refused to listen to reason. How much further will he push you until you break?".

Ash looked at his four Pokemon and realised they are only scared about his safety above all else. He can understand their feeling and if Drake or Serena were in his position, he would likely be telling them the same thing... But he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he lets Sandslash go.

"No!" Ash shouted and stood between the four Pokemon and Sandslash. Ash could tell just by looking at her, that Lapras also feels like these three, she just doesn't have the confidence to voice her opinions. "... Sorry guys, but I won't let Sandslash go... I don't know how to explain it, it could be my aura, but I can feel the pain that is inside Sandslash and I can't let him go whilst he has this pain...".

The Pokemon looked at their trainer with hard stares. They can tell by looking at him that Ash has already made his mind up. Ash has already helped all of them out, saving both Tauros and Dragonair from Team Rocket when the criminals attacked the Safari Zone, saving Charizard from his previous trainer and bringing both said trainer to justice and currently helping Lapras search for her family while also helping her get stronger. They all admire their trainer's kind heart. Although they don't agree with his decision, they have enough respect to help him in said decision regardless of the outcome.

They all soften their stares and Ash went back to drying the ground type. Once they had finished eating, the Pokemon found their own spots and lay down to sleep, while Ash did offer them the Pokeballs where they would be warmer, they denied, which Ash was thankful for since Charizard's flame is doing more good for Sandslash than he is at the minute.

Soon Tauros, Dragonair and Lapras were asleep with Charizard about to join them. He was lying the closest to Ash and Sandslash and saw that Ash's hands were turning red from rubbing Sandslash dry. In truth, Sandslash's skin was similar to sand paper by the texture and the towel wasn't protecting his hands at all.

"You don't need to do that, Ash. My tail flame will keep him stable. You should get some sleep as well." Charizard told his trainer. He can remember the first night that he met Ash, and how Ash stayed by his bedside all night. He truly is a great trainer, and in all honesty, he is too good for Sandslash.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Charizard." Ash told the fire flying type. "I wouldn't be able to rest until I know Sandslash is okay anyway.".

Charizard sighed as he lay down and closed his eyes. He can't help but think that this is what Ash was like back when they first met. As the Flame Pokemon also entered a sleep as Ash continued to work on Sandslash. A crack of thunder warned Ash about the thunder storm that started.

"Just hold on Sandslash... We'll have you as good as new in no time." Ash told the ground type as he continued to work.

* * *

The group have too refugee in Virgil's boat. Despite it being relatively small, there was a second level meaning more than enough room for all of them to sleep. There is only one bed, so it is just like camping out but they can't complain since it is nice of Virgil to let them stay here.

Serena is sat in her sleeping bag and sighed. A crack of thunder let her, and the others, know that a thunderstorm has started. She looked over and found Pikachu cuddled up with Eevee on a pillow. He has been so worried about Ash all day, but as usual it was the evolution Pokemon to calm him down. Serena has been looking after him but she too has been worried about him.

Not so long ago she received a message from Ash's Pokegear saying he was alright but stuck in a cave. It was obvious that the storm was rolling in, and thus too dangerous to try and reunite tonight but it was good to hear from Ash anyway. She also looked at the Pokemon next to her pillow, Togepi. He has been hysterical all day. While he doesn't mind spending time with Serena, he has been scared since he saw his daddy jump into the water. Only Pikachu and Serena combined were able to get him to calm down. With her looking after the Pokemon, Serena hasn't been able to let what happened sink in.

"Can't sleep?" A familiar voice asked from behind her. Serena turned to see Virgil stood behind her. Serena nodded in response and the Pokemon range took a seat on the floor next to her, careful not to wake the Pokemon up. "Well... I've been wanting to ask something.".

"What is it?" Serena asked.

"... Ash's Sandslash." Virgil replied. "I know Ash must be a competent trainer, he wouldn't be in the Orange League if he wasn't. So, what is up with his Sandslash, it was like he was filled with rage.".

Serena sighed as she heard the question, she should've guessed that Virgil would have some questions about Sandslash... But how can she explain it to him... Well, he deserves the truth, he is letting them stay in his boat for free after all.

"The truth is... Ash caught Sandslash over a year ago, we were travelling towards Ash's fifth gym battle and we ran into another trainer." Serena explained. "Ash challenged him to a battle and he told us that his Nidoking had been badly injured by a strong wild Pokemon.".

"I'm guessing Sandslash was that wild Pokemon." Virgil guessed.

"Right. Ash was excited at the prospect of such a strong Pokemon and we went to find it." Serena continued. "We found it and the battle started. It was clearly angry and looking back, it looked less like a Pokemon battle and like he wanted to end Ash's Bulbasaur. Luckily, Bulbasaur evolved and brought Sandslash down, but he still refused to give up. He turned to me and Ash jumped in the way to protect me. Taking a crush claw in the gut and catching Sandslash in the process.".

"You must be very special to him, for him to take an attack like that." Virgil commented.

"Hehehe, honestly. Ash would do something like that for a complete stranger." Serena chuckled lightly. "It was because of that, that I finally confessed to him.".

"You confessed?" Virgil asked. "Sorry, but I always assumed Ash was the one to do that.".

"Really, Ash didn't have the first clue about romance... He can still be pretty clueless from time to time." Serena replied. "I have had a crush on him since our first meeting, but before that point I was too shy to tell him.".

"So, what happened with Sandslash?" Virgil asked, getting back on topic.

"Ash caught him but he wouldn't listen to Ash." Serena answered. "He tried everything he could think off, and treated him no different to his other Pokemon. He even let him battle in the Indigo League. Still, Sandslash wouldn't listen and would keep to himself.".

"Most trainers would've given up by this point." Virgil commented.

"I know, and today I tried to speak to him about it. I was even going to suggest that Ash lets him go." Serena admitted.

"I don't get why he hasn't already." Virgil replied.

"It's hard to explain, but..." Serena took a pause to think of the best way to word this. "But he says he can feel Sandslash's pain. Sandslash hasn't mentioned anything but he clearly has a problem with people as a whole. I just don't know what will break first, Sandslash's hard shell or Ash.".

"Ash must be one great trainer if he is still willing to give Sandslash a chance after everything." Virgil replied thoughtfully. Serena smiled, while not thrilled at the idea of having to talk about Ash and Sandslash, Serena has to admit that the talk is making her feel better.

* * *

It has been about an hour since Ash's Pokemon fell asleep. While the storm continues to dominant outside the cave, Charizard's tail flame is more than enough to keep the place warm. Ash hasn't spotted rubbing Sandslash despite the damage it is doing to his hands.

Little did Ash know, Sandslash has been awake the whole time. Ash has been talking to the ground type, about how he won't give up on him and will always be here to help him. If Sandslash was in any condition to, he would slash the boy limb from limb for those lies. He has heard it all before and all it leads to is pain and suffering. Why should he believe this boy is any different?

As Ash continued to rub the spikes on Sandslash's back, he moved a couple so he could ensure the parts near the skin are dry. As he did, Ash found something he never expected. He found scars on the ground type. Not just one or two either, but at least a couple dozen on this layer alone. From the looks of them, they weren't made at the same time as some are older than others.

Ash quickly checked another layer and found the same thing. Checking a third layer and the same again. Although impossible to count because many are over lapping with each other, Sandslash has well over a hundred scars.

"What the..." Ash gasped in confusion. Where in Kanto did these come from? Ash and none of his friends would've done this and by the looks of the scars they easily out last the time he has been in the group. Could these be why Sandslash hates humans?

"Leave! Them! Alone!" A strange threating voice demanded. Ash looked at the ground type, to see Sandslash was awake. Despite Ash catching him over a year ago, he has never actually talked to Ash. At most he's growled threateningly. That is why Ash doesn't recognise the voice.

"Sandslash..." Ash gasped gone out. He thought the ground type was still out because he hasn't moved or opened his eyes. He hasn't even made a sound. "Where did you get these? Why didn't you tell anyone? I could've...".

"Caused more!?" Sandslash snapped. After hours of this brat, scratch that, after a year of dealing with him Sandslash has had enough. "I know what your kind is like. You say, 'we will be a team' and 'you can trust me'. But when push comes to shove, it is all a lie.".

Ash just stared at the ground type with an unreadable expression. Is that what Sandslash truly thinks of him? Of people in general. What ever happened before Ash caught him must've been what created these thoughts... And those scars.

"It is because of your kind that I got them." Sandslash spat.

"Sandslash..." Ash replied sadly, so he was abused. "... You know aura has healing capabilities. I'm sure if I ask my dad then he'd...".

"None of your kind will touch them!" Sandslash lashed out. Swinging his razor-sharp claw around, Ash had to back away to avoid taking the attack. Sandslash still wasn't at a decent level of strength and that resulted in him being out of breath and unable to continue his attack. "They... Remind me...".

"Remind you of what?" Ash asked. He wasn't scared because he could tell Sandslash was too tired to attack again even if he wanted to.

"Remind me of what your kind is like... And why I shouldn't trust humans." Sandslash replied.

"What happened?" Ash asked in as calm as a tone as possible.

"You want to know?" Sandslash spat. Ash answered with a nod of the head. "If I tell you will you finally let me go and get away from your kind?".

"I want to help you Sandslash." Ash replied with as much confidence as possible. Sandslash clearly has trust issues and he would believe Ash if he wasn't confident. "But to do that, I need to know what happened... And if after you've told me, I can't help... Then yes, I will release you. If that is what you want.".

In truth, it is killing Ash to make this deal but it is the only way he can get Sandslash to open up. He would hate to let Sandslash go with this mindset that all people are bad but if he can't prove himself to Sandslash than maybe letting him go is best. It is clear that is what Sandslash wants, but that doesn't mean that is what he needs.

"I use to have a trainer, AJ... His old man caught me and gave me to him for his tenth birthday." Sandslash started. "For the first few months it was good, we got on and won a couple of badges... Then we got to a water type gym.".

Ash guessed that it was likely the Cerulean gym. It is the only water type gym from Kanto and since it is likely that Kanto is the only region Sandslash has been too since that is where he caught him, that seems to make sense.

"I lost badly in that gym, and my trainer changed. He set up a training camp on the outskirts of the city." Sandslash continued. "He was training all of us, hard. There was a whip that was left by whoever was there before and he started using it... It wasn't just me, the other Pokemon got it as well but I was his prime target.".

Ash's eyes widened as he realised those marks on Sandslash's back must've come from the whip. To have your trainer, your friend, turn like that and use such tactics to 'train' makes Ash sick. No wonder Sandslash has trust issues.

"He would use it all day, and would tell other trainers that he was training savage Pokemon. Since I lost to a water type, he would force me to go swimming and whip me when I would leave the water." Sandslash carried on. "Then he showed up.".

Ash noticed the change in Sandslash's tone. When speaking of his old trainer, it was a sad tone. Like he was upset over what happened. However, now that this new person has showed up, he realised Sandslash is just plain angry.

"The red hair, cape man, with the dragon." Sandslash growled each word. "He claimed he was here to help us, and get away from AJ. During the struggle, I ended up evolving but he was victorious. He told us to trust him... And we did.".

It didn't take a genius to work out who this individual is. A red haired, cape wearing man with a dragon, only one person fits that description, Lance. But Lance is a member of Kanto's elite four, and a member of the Pokemon G-Men, why would Sandslash be angry at him?

"At first, it seemed like trusting him was the right thing to do." Sandslash continued. "He fed us, got us medical care, and really seemed to care about us. Once we were healed, he changed.".

Now Ash was really confused. So, Lance saved him from his trainer but he seems just as, if not angrier at Lance. What could he have done to make Sandslash think like this? This story just gets even more confusing.

"He split me from my friends, the other Pokemon who were in AJ's care." Sandslash turned his back. "He told me everything would be alright, then left me in the wild. Alone, with no one, no shelter, no food. He just left me.".

Okay, now it is making sense. Sandslash must've been close to those other Pokemon AJ had. Going through that sort of experience would bring the victims close together. Not to mention, he put all his trust in Lance, who let him down. Of course, Lance must've had his reasons, but that would hurt anyone.

"I learned one thing, you are all the same. I trusted AJ, and he turned on me." Sandslash growled with his typical narrow of the eyes. "Before he changed, he said we were a team. That was a lie. Lance told me to trust him, and I did. He told me everything would be fine, and that was a lie. All your lot do is lie.".

So that's it. Sandslash has been dragged through hell, both physical and emotional torture. He trusted AJ, who turned on him. He trusted Lance, who Sandslash sees as turning on him. While Ash didn't know what Sandslash has been through, he definitely couldn't have guessed what he was just told. No wonder he has trust issues.

"Look Sandslash, I know that I cannot being to understand how you must feel after all that." Ash started slowly as he stood up. "But not all people are bad, I won't lie to you and say everyone is perfect because they aren't... If you give me a chance, I want to show you that I won't let you down.".

Sandslash looked Ash directly in the eyes with a hard-cold glare, accompanied with a low threatening growl. "Why should I trust you? Your exactly like every other human, a lie.". Despite the brat's eyes showing honesty, Sandslash isn't buying it, he knows what humans are like and has the scars to remind him.

"I'm not lying to you, Sandslash." Ash told the ground type while standing his ground. Looking into those cold hard eyes, Ash knows words alone won't prove this to him, he has been hurt by too many people for that to work. Ash needs something else. "I am like you, Sandslash.".

Sandslash extended his claws at that statement. This brat dare's compare himself to him. He has no idea what it is like, to have someone you once considered a friend abuse you, to be parted from brothers and sister. To be scar by someone you cared about.

Ash knew what he had to do to prove this to the ground type. Taking a deep breath, Ash lifted up his shirt to reveal his two scars. "You made these scars, just like AJ made yours. I don't blame you, though. In your place, I would be angry as well. If I thought it would help you, I would let you leave a thousand or more scars but it won't. The only way you can move on from this, is if you learn to trust again. Let me help you with that.".

Sandslash listened to the pleads of the brat and looked back at the scars he left on his body. When he made them, he felt good but now, all Sandslash is feeling is empty. If anything, those scars are a shallow victory. Despite being annoying, this brat didn't cause his scars, but he took the punishment for them. Analysing both the boy's words and his face, Sandslash can't help but think that the brat is being honest.

Despite every cell in his body telling him to rip this kid limb from limb, Sandslash's heart was begging him to give this boy a chance. Regardless of what has happened in the past, part of him is tired of being the cold, angry Pokemon and wants to experience friendship once more.

With much reluctance, Sandslash withdrew his claws. After what seemed like an eternity, he held his paw out to Ash, as his eyes seemed to soften up. Ash looked at the gesture before reacting by holding his own hand out.

"I don't trust you, but I am tired of living like this." Sandslash admitted. "I will give you and only you a chance.".

"Thanks, Sandslash, I won't let you down." Ash promised as he shook paws with the ground type.

"You better not... Or I will take you up on those thousand scars." Sandslash threatened as he quickly withdrew from the gesture. To his surprise, the brat... No, Ash, was smiling when he made that threat. Either this kid is loony or he doubts Sandslash would go through with it or... Maybe he will genuinely try...

* * *

It is the morning after the storm. Ash reunited with the group by riding out on Lapras' back. While Sandslash promised to give Ash a chance, he still refused to acknowledge the other Pokemon, and Ash kept the story that Sandslash told him the night before secret. After bidding good bye to Virgil, the group started travelling towards Navel Island and Ash's second Orange League gym battle.

"So, Ash, what happened?" Misty asked out of curiosity.

"After I got to Sandslash in the water, a current blew up both away. It was thanks to Lapras that we made it into the cave." Ash explained as he rubbed the water ice types head. Lapras cooed under the affection. "Sandslash was in a bad way, but thanks to Charizard we heated him up quickly.".

"Hmm..." Serena groaned. Now that she has almost lost Ash because of the ground types actions, she is close to taking the Pokeball and releasing him herself.

"I also had a talk with Sandslash, once the others were asleep." Ash admitted. "He told me about his history, and is willing to give me a chance.".

"What did he say?" Drake asked.

"I won't tell you... Not without Sandslash's permission first." Ash replied calmly. "I have been lucky enough for Sandslash to give me this chance, I won't throw his trust away by revealing his secrets. Sorry, but I will only tell you if Sandslash is happy for you to know.".

"Does it even matter? He will probably just lash out again." Serena replied in a surprisingly bitter tone.

"I don't think so Serena. Sandslash explained everything to me, and quite frankly I am not surprise he acted how he has." Ash replied. "He is tired of the pain he is in, and is letting me help him out of it. I think he really wants to try and make our relationship work.".

The group looked at each other as Togepi dragged his daddy's attention down to him. After nearly a full day away from him, Togepi wants his daddy's attention and Ash is happy to give it to him. While the started a game of peek-a-boo, the others can't help but wonder what is it that Sandslash has been through. Can it really be that bad?

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	9. Ash VS Danny: Teamwork

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the second Orange league battle. This is probably the closest gym to the canon... But we get to see Haunter again, she has been absent from this story for far too long. Sorry for the long update but work has been hell Not much else to say, Sandslash will get a gym battle but he hasn't had sufficient time for Ash to work with him yet. This is probably the shortest chapter of the Orange Island arc so far but that isn't really a bad thing, some chapters just end up being shorter. Question Time:_**

 ** _Jasmine:_**

 ** _Q) Will Sandslash ever trust Ash fully and completely? A) Only the future will tell._**

 ** _Any way remember to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 9: Ash VS Danny: Teamwork_

The group is currently on the back of Lapras, swimming towards Navel Island and Ash's second Orange League badge. It is the closest gym to Cissy's but that doesn't mean they are next to each other. It has been a week and half since they ran into Virgil. This is because the Orange Islands are huge.

Whilst travelling, the group have been stopping at islands along the way to spend the night and train, as well as give Lapras a break. The group hasn't been able to swap Pokemon as none of the islands they have stopped on have had a Pokemon Centre. Ash knew he was going to make a couple of rotations for the upcoming gym as he promised Ivysaur he could partake since he couldn't compete in the Mikan gym. Plus, he was going to rotate Pokemon after this gym anyway. He promised them all the chance to compete, and he plans to fulfil that promise.

Serena has also been training hard, working on both appeal performance's and battle combinations. While Delphox and Eevee are adamant about perfecting the first round. Farfetch'd is by far the most enthusiastic about the battle round which is sort of surprising but it makes sense when you realise the battle round combines his two favourite things, battling and showing off. Kabuto has also been working hard. Although leaning a little more to battling than the appeal round, he really is trying his hardest. Kadabra has been working hard on his regular training while Beedrill is also trying to get the whole "combination" thing down.

Drake has also been doing well with his Pokemon. Of course, they have been keeping up with their training but Drake has been joining them. While not lazy, Drake has never been the physical type, spending more time studying then playing. Despite this, he too is starting to notice that he is getting stronger and is also feeling closer to his Pokemon.

Misty has been splitting her time between working on her tan and training her Pokemon. Of course, she is still aiming to become the best type water trainer she can before she takes over the gym, but it won't be long before they visit Trovita Island which is why she wants her tan to be perfect.

"Laaaaa!" Lapras cried out.

"What is it, Lapras?" Ash asked. He turned to see what the Transport Pokemon wanted and saw what looked like a massive mountain in the distance. Ash can remember reading that the Navel gym is on the heightest point of the island and that is the only island anywhere near here.

"Navel Island coming up." Lapras informed.

"Thanks, Lapras." Ash thanked. He knows that he won't be able to challenge the gym tonight as the sun is already setting. Although that isn't too big of a deal since he wants to call Professor Oak anyway and make a couple of rotations.

"So, Ash, who do you plan to use in your battle?" Serena asked.

"As long as I don't need to fulfil specific requirements like with Cissy, I promised both Ivysaur and Lapras the chance." Ash explained. "I know Sandslash wants a gym battle as well, but the Navel gym is supposed to focus around teamwork of Pokemon. That isn't really his area.".

"Most gyms use a three on three format." Drake replied. "So that leaves you with one spot left.". Ash smiled and nodded in response. First thing he will do when he gets to land is make some team rotations.

"Wow, the mountain looks even bigger close up." Misty exclaimed as the group looked back to the mountain.

Although the shore is still a couple of minutes away the mountain really is big. It is supposed to be the biggest one in the whole of the Orange Islands. The cliff side back on Mikan Island was hard enough to climb but that would be downright painful.

"I bet that mountain has something to do with the gym." Drake spoke up. "Remember the Mikan Gym used the whole island.".

The others nodded in agreement as the mountain got bigger. It was so tall that they couldn't see the summit since it went above the clouds. One thing is for sure, this will be one gym to remember.

* * *

"Ah, Ash my boy. It is good to hear from you." Professor Oak greeted from the video phone. "How is your Orange League going? And how is the GS ball?".

"The GS ball is fine. It's going good, Professor. And I am having my second gym battle tomorrow." Ash smiled. He has Togepi asleep on the table that the video-phone is on since it is pretty late. "That's actually why I've called, I want to make a couple of rotations.".

"Certainly, my boy. All your Pokemon have been working hard and read for a gym battle." Professor Oak informed. "Who will you be switching?".

"I definitely want Ivysaur..." Ash replied as he entered a thought about who else to bring. Since the Orange gyms are so different, Ash can't just pick his Pokemon based on type advantage.

"What about me, darling?" Haunter popped in front of the Professor's face.

"Gaw! Haunter, you're going to give me a heart attack!" The Professor told the ghost poison type.

"Well the author has to introduce me into the story someway." Haunter retorted.

"WE ARE NOT IN A FAN FICTION!" Ash shouted. He really is tired of needing to tell his Haunter that.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say." Haunter shrugged it off. "Now you can switch me into the team so the readers can have a good laugh... After all that soppy emotional stuff, last chapter they need some proper entertainment, or we will lose them to a Japanese Anime which involves tentacle po...".

"No Haunter!" The author cut her off before she could go to some weird place.

"Please Haunter... Just... Stop." Ash pleaded.

"Can't stop, won't stop, can't stop the..." Haunter started to sing. "NO! No Author, I won't re-use a joke like that. Who do you think I am? Chuggaaconroy?".

"Um Ash, I hate to interrupt but I have Ivysaur ready to switch." The Professor interrupted. "Will you be taking Haunter as well?".

"... Sure." Ash sighed in defeat. He loves Haunter as much as his other Pokemon, she can just be a massive handful. Even more so than Sandslash. Hopefully this won't be as bad as it normally is though.

"See, I told you the Author would have me join the team." Haunter told her trainer as she floated through the screen too appeared with Ash. She dropped her own Pokeball into his hand.

"Um, Haunter. How did you do that?" Ash asked.

"Magic." Haunter replied sarcastically as she waved her hands around as some sort of sparkly powder fell from them. Ash's Pokedex started vibrating, so Ash opened it to see what's up.

"Please select which Pokemon you wish to send back." The device requested.

The screen came to light with the pictures of: Pikachu (whose image was crossed out), Charizard, Sandslash, Haunter, Tauros, Dragonair and Lapras. Well, he is going to swap Tauros for Ivysaur so out of the remaining, Pokemon Dragonair is the least adept at cold temperatures, like at the top of the mountain where the gym presumably is. With his decision made, Ash clicked Dragonair's picture and he felt the Ultra Ball teleport away.

"Ash, Ivysaur is ready to be switched. Who are you sending back?" The Professor drew the raven-haired boy's attention. Ash decided to just ignore the ghost poison type and turned back to the screen.

"I'm sending Tauros, Professor." Ash informed as he showed him the Safari Ball. He placed it in the transporter before it was surrounded in electricity and teleported away. Another Pokeball appeared in the electricity before it died down. Ash smiled and picked it up. "Ivysaur's arrived safe and sound Professor.".

"Same with Tauros Ash." The Professor replied as he showed the Safari Ball to the eleven-year-old. Ash smiled in response as the Professor yawned. "Now if you excuse me, Ash. It is time I went to bed.".

"Okay Professor, thanks." Ash smiled as the screen turned black. Ash smiled as he turned around, he looked at the Pokeball in his hand before letting out his grass poison type. Ivysaur appeared in front of him. "Hey there Ivysaur.".

"Hey..." Ivysaur yawned in response, he was asleep in the Pokeball due to the time difference between Kanto and the OI. Sure, it is bedtime here as well but Ivysaur was put to sleep a couple hours back.

"We have a gym challenge tomorrow, and I'm sure Pidgeot and the others told you guys how it is different from a normal gym." Ash explained. Ivysaur nodded as both Pidgeot, Primeape and Gyarados explained what happened in the Mikan gym. "Well it is on top of a snowy mountain, presumably. So, I want to make sure your still up to the challenge.".

"Of course." Ivysaur replied sounding offend. He yawned again. "Just let me sleep first.".

"Sure buddy." Ash smiled as he returned his grass poison type. While Ivysaur is out of his normal element in a snowy area, he is also one of Ash's most welcoming Pokemon, there is a reason he acts like an ambassador at the ranch so he is perfect for a challenge based around Pokemon teamwork.

"Does that mean I get to partake as well?" Haunter asked in a sing-songie voice. Ash looked at the ghost type to find she has turned her eyes to look like big blue ones out of an anime and fluttered them to try and look innocent. Ash sighed and held out her Pokeball.

"We will see how well you behave." Ash replied. "Now return.".

"Your no fun." Haunter muttered before being hit by the red light and returning to her Pokeball. Ash clipped the Pokeball to his belt and turned around, picking up the sleeping Togepi as Pikachu climbed onto Ash shoulder. With everything sorted they went to find the others before getting a good rest for the gym battle that awaits.

* * *

The group has just left the Pokemon Cafeteria after a breakfast. It is now the morning that Ash will be facing the Navel Gym. They were about to ask Nurse Joy if she had directions to the gyms location but before that, a man walked up to them. The man looks in his early twenties, medium length auburn hair, quite tanned with a muscular body. He is also wearing a friendly smile.

"Danny." The man greeted as he held his hand out. "I'm the Navel gym leader.". Upon realising who he is, Ash returned the gesture and shook hands.

"Hi, I'm Ash Ketchum and I came for a gym battle." Ash greeted with a wide smile.

"I know, that's why I'm here." Danny replied. "I like to meet all my challengers, and Nurse Joy let me know of your arrival last night.".

"I'm Misty." Misty introduced herself. "I specialise in water type and set to take over the Cerulean gym in Kanto.".

"Misty, what a lovely name." Danny smiled. As the hand shake with Ash ended, Danny offered the same gesture to Misty who also had the tiniest hint of a blush hit her cheeks. Is it a requirement of all male Orange League gym leaders to be charming? First Rudy back in Kanto and now Danny.

"Drake." Drake introduced himself as the hand shake with Misty ended.

"Nice to meet you, Drake." Danny smiled as he also shook hands with the raven-haired boy.

"And I'm Serena." Serena introduced herself as the handshake between Danny and Drake ended.

"Serena. I bet your as sweet and serene as your name suggests." Danny smiled as he also shook her hand. Ash frowned and slid to her side, wrapping his arm around Serena's shoulder.

"Yeah, she is." Ash mumbled. "She is also my girlfriend.".

"Ash!" Serena whispered harshly. While she is normally happy to be in his arms and if this was back before they got together she would love the idea of him being jealous. They are boyfriend and girlfriend, she isn't going to fall for another guy because he complimented her.

"Oh, um... Sorry." Ash muttered in embarrassment. He should know better than get jealous because some guy complimented her. She is his girlfriend and he trusts her. Not to mention, there is over a ten-year age gap, that is far too large especially considering their young ages.

"Don't worry about it." Danny smiled not bothered about the possessive tone Ash used before. Ash shot him a grateful smile.

"And he said I have to behave." Haunter muttered as she watched the events from her Pokeball. It is homely place with an old oak chair and warm fire whilst neatly filled with little knickknacks. "What? I got a good interior decorator.". The author sweat dropped as Haunter addressed the readers again.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Ash asked, excited.

"Excitement, I like that." Danny smiled. "If you want to follow me, we can get going. Your friends can join us too.".

The group walked across the island, following the gym leader. Ash was talking with Danny who revealed he too has a test for the challenger to pass before the real competition begins. Although Danny didn't reveal what the test was. The others also took in the sights of the island. It is a just like a small village, kind've like Lavender Town back in Kanto just without the fog surrounding the place. Plus, the giant mountain had a lot of the walk in the shade which meant it wasn't a massive tourist spot unlike some of the islands they've been too.

* * *

They were in awe but not really surprised at the place they ended up at. It was the base of the mountain but blocking off access to the base was a giant gate with an equally tall fence going presumably all the way around. Danny walked up to a panel on the side of the gate and placed his hand against it. Once he moved it away, the gate opened.

"This is pretty tight security." Misty commented.

"Both security and safety are top priorities in all Orange League gyms. This mountain is dangerous to climb when alone, even in a group it isn't easy." Danny explained. "This is to stop anybody from climbing it without proper permission.".

"Cissy's gym was pretty dangerous and I didn't see any sort of safety measures there." Drake commented.

"Just because you didn't see it, doesn't mean it wasn't there." Danny commented. "Any sort of physical activity is over seen by a psychic Pokemon, who is trained to put a stop to the challenge if it gets too dangerous. Cissy just doesn't tell her challengers because it gives them a safety net.".

"Does that mean your challenge has something similar?" Ash asked. "Speaking off, can you tell me what sort of test I need to pass?".

"The test is simple. You need to climb the mountain, without the use of your Pokemon." Danny explained. "As for your question. I have a Pokemon who will be watching us as we climb but don't expect him to help with every little thing. He will only intervene if necessary and not for little bumps along the road. He isn't a safe net to be tested.".

Ash nodded in understand as he looked back to the mountain before him. Unlike a lot of mountains, he has travelled over, there isn't a clear trail in sight, so that mean he will be climbing to start with. Just because he knows there is a Pokemon watching who will keep them safe, to an extent, doesn't mean this will be easy.

"Wait, Ash can't even use his Pokemon?" Serena asked in a concerned voice.

"His Pokemon have already proven themselves, since all challengers need to have competed in a regional league. This is to make sure the trainers are willing to face the same hard-ships." Danny explained. "I am required to climb the mountain as well, under the same restriction.".

Serena nodded in understanding although wasn't completely happy about it. Still, through Kanto they faced tougher challenges like Team Rocket and Mewtwo, Ash could do this as well. She just isn't thrilled about the thought of him doing it.

"Don't worry Serena, I already climbed the cliff at Cissy's gym, right?" Ash tried to reassure.

"Although there is a height difference between that cliff and this mountain." Serena deadpanned caused Ash to blush and sheepishly laugh in response.

"Um, Danny. Do we need to climb the mountain too?" Misty asked. She is happy to support Ash as he takes on this gym but she doesn't fancy climbing a mountain to do so. Danny turned to the water type trainer who was blushing in embarrassment, she doesn't want to sound weak, she just doesn't fancy climbing a mountain, and she isn't exactly dressed for it.

"Oh no, there is a cable car around the side. It will take you up to the summit." Danny explained. "Feel free to stay in the cabin up there as it can take a few hours for us to meet ya.".

"That's a relief." Misty sighed since she doesn't need to climb the mountain.

Danny smiled at her before he turned back to his challenger. He smiled as he saw the two Pokemon by his side, not because Togepi is a rare Pokemon but you can see the bond between the three of them. This is why he took a position as gym leader in the Orange League.

"Serena, will you take care of Togepi?" Ash asked.

"Of course." Serena smiled as she went to grab the fairy type.

"Dada." Togepi cried as he gave his daddy the biggest hug he could.

"Hehehe, thanks Togepi. Behave for Serena okay." Ash told the young fairy type.

"Ena..." Togepi smiled as Serena took the fairy type. Ash stared dumbly at the fairy type as Serena planted a kiss on Ash's cheek. Was it just his imagination or was Togepi trying to say Serena?

"Good luck." Serena whispered after she planted the kiss. Although Ash was still focused on Togepi, is the Spike Ball chirped happily as Serena, Misty and Drake walked away around the mountain towards the Cable Car.

"Well Ash, are you ready to get going?" Danny asked. Snapping the raven-haired boy out of his thoughts. Ash smiled with a flame of determination in his eye and nodded to answer the gym leader's question. Danny smiled and started to climb the cliff side. Ash also started with Pikachu on his head.

"Did you hear what Togepi said, Pikachu?" Ash asked. To his dismay, Pikachu shook his head in response...

* * *

The two trainers have been climbing for a couple of hours by this point and Ash was starting to feel it. They are taking a short break on one of the ledges, but what caught Ash's attention is the change as they got higher. It only looks like it gets thicker as they go up. Lucky, the climbing section of the mountain is over but they still have the snow trail to trudge through.

"Ready to keep moving?" Danny asked his challenger.

"Sure am." Ash replied as both of them stood up.

Danny was leading the way around the trail with Ash and Pikachu following shortly behind. Pikachu is on Ash's shoulder and despite not being allowed to use his Pokemon to help, Danny is fine for Pikachu to stay out as long as he doesn't assist them in any way.

As they were walking, Ash thought to all the Pokemon he has on hand. Pikachu, Ivysaur, Charizard, Haunter, Sandslash and Lapras. Ash doesn't know what sort of challenge the normal gym will be and he can't expect it to be a straight forward battle after the mini competitions in the Mikan gym. Well, Danny hasn't mentioned that he needs Pokemon that met a certain requirement so hopefully that means he can use any of them.

This gym is said to be based around teamwork of the Pokemon which would mean: Pikachu, Ivysaur and Charizard are all good choices since they work well together, despite working with Ash since the night in the cave Sandslash meant it he was only going to be trying to work with Ash, which means he still doesn't talk to anyone so he wouldn't work well in a gym for teamwork. Haunter is... Haunter, not the best but could definitely be worse. Lapras, could do well. She gets on okay with Dragonair and is very friendly, sure Charizard scares her but she seems to get on with Pikachu. Guess before Ash makes his final decision he should see what the challenge is...

"Ash look out!" Danny shouted.

It was too late, Ash had been so focused on who to use in the gym that he wasn't paying much attention to his steps. He accidently stood a little close to the edge and the snow gave way. Before he could react, Ash was falling down the mountain. A small rock was pointing out of the side of the mountain and Ash's back scraped against it. Once he reached the ledge below, he came to a stop.

"Arg!" Ash cried out in pain. Although to Ash it seemed to be happening in slow motion, it was over within a matter of seconds. Out of instinct Ash grabbed a Pokeball. "Charizard, fly me back up to where I...".

"Don't Ash!" Danny shouted. "If you use a Pokemon than you will need to start it over again!".

Ash realised what Danny said was true and he put the Pokeball back on his belt. Standing up, Ash cried in pain as he felt around his back. Finding the painful spot on his back, Ash rubbed it a little, wincing from the pain. Moving his hand away he found blood traces on his fingers. Great. Ash isn't able to reach around and treat the injury himself, but he also can't receive help until this is over. Well, might as well get going again if only to sort this scrap out soon rather than later. Ash started to climb the mountain side he just fell down and saw Danny waiting. A thought occurred to him.

"Danny, I thought you said you had a Pokemon to stop stuff like this happening." Ash questioned as he climbed the mountain.

"The Pokemon is watching us, he is a Hypno." Danny explained. "He would've used Future Sight to see what would've happen and because it wasn't too bad he decided not to intervene. If the fall could've broken a bone or worse than he would've caught you with Psychic.".

"Gee, how nice of him." Ash grunted as he continued to climb the mountain side despite the pain in his back. Lucky, it was only a small drop so it didn't take him long to reach the place he once.

"Hypno isn't meant to make this easy, he is there to stop any serious incidents." Danny explained. "If you can't handle it, I could always call him and we stop the challenge right now.".

"No way!" Ash shouted as he stood in front of the gym leader. "My Pokemon and I have worked too hard to just give up. We don't give up until it's over.".

Danny smiled inwardly as he looked at his latest challenger. This is the type of trainer who he respects and is the reason he joined the Orange Crew. It honestly reminds him of himself back when he took on the Orange League. After all, every gym leader in the Orange League is a past challenger who ended up facing Drake out of their respective groups. They were all personally selected by Drake to take on the gyms, and he wouldn't be surprised if Ash was offered the same position when the time comes. Drake has always had a hidden talent for finding great trainers but before that time...

"Well let's keep moving than." Danny suggested and turned around before continuing the trek up the mountain with Ash and Pikachu shortly behind.

Despite the pain in his back, Ash wasn't going to back down, before long he would have his second Orange badge. One thing is for sure, climbing a mountain is tougher than he thought and he thought it would be tough to being with.

* * *

Serena, Misty, Drake and Togepi are in the cabin at the top of the mountain. Serena is currently giving Togepi a bottle of warm milk, despite eating solid food he still needs a drink and in the cold environment a warm bottle is perfect. She hasn't long finished her own cup of hot chocolate while sat by the window to watch for Ash and Danny to show up. It has been close to four hours since the test and it was making Serena worry.

"Hey Serena, do you want another hot chocolate?" Misty asked as she came to check on the honey-blonde girl. "Drake's just put the kettle on for his tea.".

"Thank you, Misty, but no. I want to save some for Ash when he shows up." Serena replied with a grateful smile.

"Toge-Priiiii!" Togepi let out a happy cry from her hand.

The two girls looked at the young fairy type to see him looking out of the window with a cheerful expression, he is also trying to keep his balance since he has the milk bottle in his hand and it is actual quite a bit taller. Turning to look out of the window, they found Danny reach the top of the snowy mountain with Ash shortly behind him. Serena wasted no time in running out of the cabin to greet him.

"Drake, they're here." Misty informed as she followed behind Serena. Drake walked out carrying to cups with him in a less excited pace. Of course, he is happy that Ash made it but instead of over reacting he got them both a hot chocolate ready after the presumably tough climb.

"Dada!" Togepi cried as he jumped out of Serena's hands, dropping the bottle in the process and giving his daddy the biggest hug he could.

"Ash!" Serena cried out as she reached him. She through her arms around him in a tight hug. Unfortunately, that sent a jolt of pain through Ash's body. Before this the cold weather had seemed to numb the pain in his back but that wasn't the case anymore.

"Arg!" Ash cried out in pain from the sudden pressure on his back.

"Ash, are you okay?" Serena asked

"Dada?" Togepi asked in an upset tone.

"Ash had a little fall on the way up, nothing serious but we should get it checked out properly now we're here." Danny explained as he accepted a hot drink from Drake.

Ash wore a sheepish grin as he looked at Serena. He also gave Togepi a reassuring hug which calmed down the fairy type. He was expecting Serena to start crying and go hysterical but to his surprise (and relief) she didn't react like that.

"Well let's get it looked at." Serena put on a friendly smile. Grabbing Ash's free hand, she walked him back to the cabin. While not thrilled that Ash hurt himself, if he could continue the test than it clearly isn't too bad. In the past, she probably would've become all clingy and burst into tears, maybe she is maturing ever so slightly.

* * *

After having his back injury checked on, it was nothing to serious but he had a nasty scrap which was cleaned, the two boys drank the hot chocolate Drake made for them before going outside of the cabin to get down to business.

"Well Ash, you past the test and now I accept your challenge at my gym." Danny explained. "This challenge is set up to show the teamwork between the Pokemon you have, you need one Pokemon who knows an ice move. If you need, you can you the phone if you need to swap them around.".

"Thanks, but no-thanks Danny, I already have a Pokemon who can use Ice Beam." Ash explained as he thought about Lapras. He did promise the Transport Pokemon a chance at a gym battle and she worked long and hard with Dragonair to master that move.

"Very good, then I'll show you my Pokemon first." Danny explained as he held three Pokeballs. "Come on out, guys.". In a flash of light, Danny's three Pokemon appeared. They were: Nidoqueen, Scyther and Geodude.

"Awesome, so what sort of challenge is it?" Ash asked excited. One thing that Drake noticed was that none of the Pokemon seemed the tiniest bit bothered by the cold environment. They have clearly been raised well since none of them are adapt for the cold weather.

"We are going to have a sledge race down the mountain, but you need your Pokemon to create the sledge out of ice." Danny explained. "You are limited to only three Pokemon and all Pokemon used need to be on the sledge when you use it.".

Ash nodded in understanding as he went over his current team. Lapras is needed as she is his only Pokemon on hand. Although not suited for the cold environment Ivysaur would be good at chipping the ice away, while Charizard would probably just melt it. That leaves one space left.

"What about flying or levitating Pokemon?" Drake asked as he looked at Danny's Scyther.

"A Pokemon who can freely move through the air is allowed to fly alongside the sledge but to win the race, all the Pokemon need to be together." Danny explained. "I have Scyther as the main driver when going down the hill.".

As Ash heard this he had a simultaneous very good and very bad idea. It is a good idea because having a main driver to steer them is a good idea, the bad part is the fact that his only Pokemon to work like that is Haunter, and he isn't so sure she is in the right frame of mind to be a driver. Well, since Sandslash wouldn't work well for this challenge either, looks like he doesn't have a choice.

"So, Ash, have you decided who you're going to use?" Danny asked.

"Yes, I have." Ash replied as he took out three Pokeballs. Pikachu saw this and realised he wouldn't be used. While upset because he wants to get a good battle in, he knows that he wouldn't get one in this gym anyway so he jumped from Ash's shoulder and climbed on to Serena's. "Come on out, guys.". In a flash of light Ash's three chosen Pokemon appeared: Ivysaur, Haunter and Lapras. Ivysaur and Lapras looked at Ash expectantly while Haunter...

"Ten-thousand years! Will give you such a creek in the next!" Haunter cried out as she rubbed the back of her head. Yep, trusting Haunter to drive him anywhere other than up the wall is definitely a mistake.

"What is wrong with you!?" Ash asked, exaggerated.

"Oh, I got bored of watching you climb the mountain so I watched this move." Haunter replied. "It rhymes with Perpadin.".

"Wait, you can see what happens outside of the Pokeball?" Ash asked.

"Normally no Pokemon can but if I can break the forth wall than I can break the vision barrier at the same time." Haunter laughed.

"Whatever..." Ash groaned not even bothering to have this argument. "Look you three, it is time for the gym match. How do you feel about a sledge race?". Ivysaur and Lapras cried happily to show they are happy to win this gym match.

"But I haven't seen Cool Runnings yet." Haunter whined. Ivysaur took out a Vine Whip and whacked the ghost to keep her in line. Unfortunately, that back fired on the grass poison type when Haunter replied with. "Oh, kinky.". Ivysaur sweat dropped and took a step back out of fear.

"HAUNTER!" Ash scolded.

"Fine..." Haunter groaned before she clicked her fingers and a cheer leading out appeared on her with two pom-poms. "Go team!".

"Um, are they okay?" Danny asked the rest of the group with a confused expression on his face.

"Believe it or not, this is normal for them." Misty explained while she and the others had sweat drops on the back of their heads.

* * *

 _Ash VS Danny (Creating The sledge):_

Ash was stood behind the three Pokemon he chose for this gym, with Danny and his time in the same position. Danny already explained that creating the sledge isn't part of the race and how they want to do it properly. While Ash was nervous because the sledge needs to be big enough to fit Lapras in, Danny's also needs to fit in Nidoqueen so it wouldn't put them at a disadvantage.

"Alright Nidoqueen, use Ice Beam and create the sledge base." Danny instructed.

Nidoqueen let out a powerful cry as a beam of ice shot out of her mouth. It struck the ground and slowly a large pillar of ice started to form as Nidoqueen slightly tilted her head so the Ice Beam was always near the top of the pillar.

"Okay Lapras, you use Ice Beam as well. Just like Nidoqueen." Ash instructed.

Lapras let out an elegant cry as she tensed up. Focusing her ice type energy at her mouth just like Dragonair showed her. An Ice Shard appeared at her mouth and was relatively small. Just like she was shown by the dragon type, Lapras pushed with all she could and a beam of ice shot out of the Ice Shard. It struck the ground and wasn't nearly as big as Nidoqueen's and was a bit wobbly as Lapras tried to keep focused.

"Come on Lapras, you can do it." Ash encouraged.

Lapras had a small flame of determination enter her eye. Ash has not only gone out of his way to help her find her family but he has also spent a lot of time whilst travelling to help train her. It was because of him that she learnt this attack and he is trusting her to help in this important gym match. She can't let him down, not after what he's done for her.

With a whole new level of determination, Lapras pushed even harder and the Ice Beam doubled in size. As the Ice Beam started to form a pillar of ice where it struck on the ground, Lapras adjusted her head to ensure the Ice Beam was at the top of the pillar. Although, it soon became too much for the transport Pokemon and the Ice Beam came to a stop as she was panting heavily. She is still an infant after all, and that took a lot out of her.

"That's enough, Nidoqueen." Danny also stopped his Pokemon.

Looking at the two pillars of ice formed, they looked pretty similar in size, width and height. The main difference is that Lapras' is slightly longer and wider mainly because she couldn't keep the Ice Beam steady like her opponent. Still, she worked hard to learn that attack and it has clearly paid off. Ash smiled at the work and ran up to the Transport Pokemon.

"Awesome Lapras, that was great." Ash congratulated. "I am so proud of you.".

Tears appeared in Lapras' eyes as Ash gave her a gentle hug. She nuzzled herself into his stomach as she happily accepted the gesture. Proud, that was the best thing Ash could've told her. Back with her parents she was the youngest in the group and always babied. She was never taught any moves or how to battle simply because she was so young but that has changed with Ash. She has proven she isn't the timid little girl they first met. Although she misses her parents dearly, she has to admit that meeting Ash and his friends was probably the best thing that could've happened.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet. You still have to carve a sledge out of the ice pillar." Danny informed them before looking over his Pokemon. "Geodude, if you don't mind.".

Geodude nodded and hopped over to the ice pillar Nidoqueen made. Clenching his fists, he slammed it into the base of the ice pillar and it went straight through it, causing the Ice Pillar to fall on its side. It than jumped on top of the giant piece of ice and began to punch the centre of it, chipping the ice away.

"Right." Ash replied before looking towards his grass poison type. "Ivysaur, you're up.".

Ivysaur let out a cry and stepped forward towards the Ice Pillar Lapras made. Shooting out two razor sharp leaves from the bulb on his back, they flew at the ice pillar and cut around the base weakening it.

Charging forward, Ivysaur struck the pillar with enough force to break it at the base which the Razor Leaf weakened. He also caused the centre of the pillar to crack where the Take Down struck it. Like the other ice pillar, it lay on the ground.

"Good job Ivysaur, keep it up." Ash encouraged.

He knows he doesn't need to tell Ivysaur what to do, after all Ivysaur helped the Professor create a new lake at the ranch when a war broke out between some grass and water types. There is a reason he is an ambassador at the Oak Pokemon lab.

Shooting six vines out of his bulb, Ivysaur started to whack the centre of the pillar where the cracks from the Take Down were. After a couple of good hits, the cracks shattered into small shards. Ivysaur used his vines to clear them out of the soon to be sitting area before continuing to whack away at the pillar.

After a good couple of minutes of the two Pokemon working on the separate ice pillars, Ivysaur and Geodude stood in front of the pieces they created. Geodude's was a lot neater which clearly comes with experience while Ivysaur has the back pretty much destroyed so it could fit Lapras inside.

"Nidoqueen, would you please move the sledge to the starting line?" Danny requested kindly.

Nidoqueen nodded and walked up to the ice sledge behind Geodude. Picking it up with incredible strength, she easily moved it towards the edge of the cliff. Ash sighed, none of his current team are exactly physically strong so how could he move their sledge to the starting position. Lucky Haunter had the answer.

She enlarged one of her hands and easily picked up the ice sledge, tossing it behind her carelessly it landed besides the other sledge and it was a miracle that it didn't break. Before anyone could response to her actions, she used her enlarged hand to pick her 'team' up. She dropped them into the sledge. Ivysaur was at the very front, Ash was behind him while Lapras was in the back. Haunter was floating behind Lapras with her two disembodied hands holding each side.

"Alright, I've been playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to prepare for this." Haunter declared with a lot of determination.

"What!?" Ash exclaimed.

"I've seen the author's plan, obviously." Haunter replied matter-of-factly. "I knew what he was going to do for this gym and I also know that at the lake of rage he is going to...".

"STOP IT HAUNTER!" The author scolded.

"Fine..." Haunter sighed. "At least I'll be in the Power of One arc.".

Everyone just decided to ignore the rambling ghost poison type. Looking at the second sledge they saw Danny and his team were in a similar position. Geodude was in the front (like Ivysaur), with Danny seated in the middle and Nidoqueen in the back. Scyther was outside of the sledge with his scythes stuck in the sledge. Ash was wondering how Scyther plans to steer when he isn't able to see over Nidoqueen.

"The race will start when the horn goes off." Danny informed Ash and his team. "The way down is shown by the different signs and it is the first team to reach the finish line. Your friends can take the cable car back down and there will be signs to show them to the finish line as well.". Serena, Misty, Drake, Pikachu and Togepi nodded and made their way over to the cable car. This was it, time for the real challenge to begin...

* * *

 _Ash VS Danny (Sledge race):_

The horn sounded throughout the entire mountain, Geodude, Danny and Nidoqueen leaned forward as Scyther started to beat his wings, soon the gym leader's team was sledging down the mountain. With Danny giving information to Scyther, acting as his eyes. Ash turned around to see his ghost poison type giving herself a manicure.

"Haunter! What are you doing!?" Ash exclaimed in anger. "The race has started!".

"I am giving myself a manicure." Haunter replied as she examined her work. "What does it look like.".

"Well we need to get going or we won't be able to win!" Ash exclaimed.

"Say the magic word." Haunter teased.

"Please." Ash gritted his teeth. This is possibly the worst start they could've had.

"That's better." Haunter sighed happily as she grabbed the sledge again. "And, cue the music.". Out of no-where the Sonic X - theme song started playing. "Huh, I guess this will have to do.".

Before any of them could respond, Haunter shot into the sky with the sledge and her team in tow. Landing on the slope of the mountain, the team was moving down at a blinding speed. No-body in the sledge could see left or right as the sledge was blowing snow away in two giant waves. Being forced to look forward the trio in the sledge had a terrified look on their faces as they were quickly coming up on Danny's sledge.

As they pasted the gym leader the snow waves being pushed to the sides by the sledge towered over them. Before Danny or his Pokemon could react, the snow had covered all of them and brought their sledge to a complete stop. Haunter looked back as they quickly disappeared out of sight.

"Now that's what I call, being snowed in." Haunter laughed at her own joke.

"Haunter! Focus! Big Rock!" Ash shouted in a panick. Haunter turned to look at the incoming rock and her eyes sparkled.

"Oooh, this is finally my chance." Haunter declared as she sped the sledge up without even trying to avoid the rock.

"HAUNTER!" Ash shouted as the sledge hit the rock. Soon the entire team was air born. Ash, Ivysaur and Lapras cried out in fear as Haunter had a different idea.

"I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky. I think about it every night and day." Haunter sang. "Spread my imaginary wings and fly away.".

"Haunter! You can float normally!" Ash shouted in complete fear as the ground was quickly coming back towards them. "What is wrong with you!?".

"You know, Ashy, darling. If you keep asking that than maybe it is you with the problem." Haunter retorted with a smug look.

"JUST DO SOMETHING!" Ash shouted in fear.

"Well we can always try this." Haunter replied as she pulled a giant yellow star out of thin air, the star had two black eyes on it. "I might've borrowed it from an Italian plumier who has a skill for rescuing Princess'.".

Flipping the Super Star in the air Haunter swallowed it and she started to glow multiple colours. Grabbing a hold of the sledge, it along with everyone in it also started to glow multiple colours. Slamming into the ground, Ash was pleasantly relieved to find they were all in one piece.

Looking forward, they could make out the finish line but instead of slowing down for a safe finish Haunter seemed to be picking up speed. Letting go of the sides, Haunter jumped into the sledge on top of Ivysaur.

"Falcon Punch!" Haunter shouted as she threw a flaming fist forward as they passed the finish line. Everything became surrounded in smoke. Serena, Misty, Drake, Pikachu, Cubone and Togepi all looked on with confusion as to what is happening.

As the smoke cleared, the group could make out a podium. Haunter was floating over the first-place part while holding a trophy, Lapras was in the second place with Ivysaur in third. Ash was still in the sledge looking like he was going to throw up.

"The sad part is, that is the closest we will get to another F-Zero." Haunter pointed out. "Ya here that Nintendo, we all know you read Pokemon fan fics and I've just called you out.".

"Urg, at least I won my second badge." Ash weakly replied before fainting in the sledge.

* * *

It is the day after Ash's gym battle with Danny and the group is setting off for Ash's next gym battle, on Trovita Island. They spent the night on Navel Island to let Lapras rest after the gym battle. Danny also handed Ash the Sea Ruby Badge, which was a seashell shaped like an oyster with a green gemstone in the centre.

The team also made a few rotations before leaving. After her performance in the gym battle, Ash realised he had more than his fill of Haunter for a while so he sent her back to the lab along with Ivysaur and Charizard. His current team consists of: Pikachu, Wartortle, Muk, Sandslash, Aerodactyl and Lapras since he went for those who haven't really travelled in the Orange Islands or had a proper chance at a gym battle. With the obvious acceptations being Pikachu and Lapras.

Serena also made a few rotations so her current team is: Beedrill, Seadra, Eevee, Farfetch'd, Kangashkan and Seel. While Kabuto is really working hard on both his appeal performance and contest battle combinations, he has been on her team since the start of this journey so she felt like it was time she sent him back. Delphox also went back because she wanted to spend some time with Ash's Charizard.

Misty didn't make too major of changes to her team but her current line-up is: Starmie, Goldeen, Tentacruel, Kingler, Psyduck and Poliwag. Although subtle the group noticed Misty did make an instant interest when Drake mentioned Trovita would be the next gym Ash takes on. While they might not know why, they certainly know Misty is looking forward to the next major stop on their journey.

Drake's current team is: Cubone (obviously), Victreebel, Machamp, Snorlax, Jolteon and Pinsir. While it has been a slow start, Drake can say he is starting to feel close to his Pokemon other than Cubone. Obviously, they aren't as close as Ash is to any off his Pokemon or share the bond Drake has with Cubone but that is to be expected. The true test to see if Drake has learnt the secret to bonding will be how he handles a wild Pokemon but who knows when the opportunity will arise?

The good news is, it won't take long to reach Trovita Island, they should be there tomorrow at the latest. The problem with that is, Trovita is a big island and the gym is on the opposite side of the island. While Lapras could swim around to get there, it would be quicker to walk across the island plus Lapras could use a rest after all her hard work recently, but that is for a later as the journey continues...

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**

 ** _"Ha! The author thought he would get me through an appearance without swearing. Well I am going to S*** over that idea." Haunter appeared out of no-where and spoke to the readers. "Don't worry my fans, I will be back for the Power of One arc. TTFN, ta ta for now."._**


	10. Lorelei's Lesson

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, a Misty focused chapter which will wrap up everything with her sisters. A couple of Pokemon evolutions but after looking back at the Cerulean Arc back near the start of this project I felt like I could've and should've done more. Which is why I made this chapter. Just because it is on Trovita Island, don't think Rudy will appear yet as they aren't near the gym. Plus, we meet an Elite Four member (if the title didn't give that away). Sorry this chapter took so long, but I've been busy with work. Not to mention, a whole section of the story was deleted when I moved it over to Doc Manger, I typically do it from Word but because of work I had to do it from Google Docs. I've learnt my lesson now, and will stick to Word from here on out. If you're wondering which scene, it is the part with the first evolution which I had to re write. Any who, remember to vote in the poll. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 10: Lorelei's Lesson_

"Pidgeot, use Twister and Aerodactyl I want you to fly through it." Ash instructed as he conducted a training session between his two flying types.

They arrived on the south side of Trovita Island this morning and for the first time Ash sent Lapras to the lab. This is because they are going to be walking across this island for a bit so they won't be able to properly search for her family until they leave the island. Not to mention, she really deserves a break after not only carrying the group on her back but also after her hard work at the Navel Gym.

Pidgeot shot into the air and started flapping her wings which created a powerful wind. Soon a small tornado appeared. They group is near a beach but Ash is having his flying types training on a field behind the beach so the wind doesn't throw the sand around. Aerodactyl roared as he felt the strong wind, he will admit he enjoys sparring with the motherly bird because she always gives a fierce challenge. Shooting into the air, Aerodactyl was fighting against the strong winds.

Ash smiled as he made his way to the beach where the rest of his team was waiting. Pidgeot and Aerodactyl are two of his most responsible Pokemon whereas he likes to keep an eye on Wartortle for his fondness for pranks. As he arrived he smiled at what he saw. Togepi was asleep in Ash's backpack. Wartortle was sparing in the ocean with Misty's Tentacruel. Pikachu and Muk were sparring with Muk working on his Shadow Sneak. With all his other Pokemon in training, Ash walked over to his Sandslash who was stood by a rock, waiting patiently. While not so happy about needing to wait for Ash to set up his other Pokemon on training, he has said he will give the brat a chance so that is what he is doing.

"Hey Sandslash, are you ready to get training?" Ash asked.

Sandslash stared at the boy with an unreadable expression. The brat knows about his history when it comes to training with water so he isn't really impressed when he found out they were training near the beach with the ocean right next to them. Finally, Sandslash nodded. He is going to hear the brat out and if there training has anything to do with the water than the brat will get another scar to add to his collection.

"Cool, I thought we could work on your speed and power with Rollout." Ash smiled. "We can run, or in your case roll, across the edge of the beach for a warm up than we can take it from there.".

So, the brat wasn't planning on having them use the water, it just so happened to be here where they were passing by. He's lucky, he won't be getting a third scar today but the stupid smile on the brat's face is starting to bug Sandslash. With a small nod of the head, Sandslash curled up into a ball and started to roll across the edge of the beach. Ash looked at the ground type with a frown.

"Poor Sandslash... I hope you will believe soon... I hate seeing you in pain." Ash muttered to himself. He isn't an idiot, Sandslash said he would give him a chance which he is but Sandslash is no-where near trusting him. All Ash can hope is that Sandslash will start soon. Knowing that he isn't getting anywhere by just standing around, Ash took off after the ground type.

Not too far away, Serena was also working with her Pokemon on different aspects of contests. Seel and Seadra are working on a water based performance in the ocean. Serena had choreographed it but the two water types wanted to practise alone so they could impress Serena and the others once it was perfect. Beedrill and Farfetch'd was in a sparring match but using contest combinations. Finally, Serena was working with Eevee and Kangashkan. While Kangashkan is more interested in the battling side of contests, her baby got really excited to take part in an appeal performance since watching Eevee give her demonstration.

"Okay Kangashkan, the appeal round is about showing off your strength and beauty." Serena explained. "That is going to be a little difficult since most of your move set is normal and fighting moves but that is why Eevee is going to help.".

"Vee Vee." Eevee stepped forward. While she isn't a contest expert or anything, Eevee has worked really hard on her first appeal performance and was happy to help the motherly normal type as well. She had already given a demonstration with her Swift show but that isn't the same explaining in detail how she is able to do it.

"When we started practising with Shauna, she said to focus on one move to make the star and then work other moves around to show it off." Serena explained to the normal type and her son. "I think we should focus on your Fire Punch since it is one of your moves which isn't normal or fighting type.".

Kangashkan nodded in agreement but had a sweat drop on the back of her head, back in the wild she would battle to protect her son before they found the Safari Zone but after travelling with Serena, she has found battling to be fun. Just based on what she has seen of contest performances, she can't say the same and feels like she is making herself look silly. Still, her child wants to give it ago so she can as long as it isn't in front of a giant crowd. She isn't ready for that yet.

"I think we should start on perfecting your Ice Beam, Kangashkan." Serena told her normal type who nodded in understand.

Of course, there are TM's for this move which would teach it instantly but they are really expensive. Seel has already taught Kangashkan how to control and focus her ice type energy and any move a Pokemon can learn through TM can be learned through training, it just takes longer. Serena smiled and Kangashkan got to work on focusing her ice type energy. Serena already has idea's running through her mind of Kangashkan creating a beautiful ice structure with Roo (her child) as the centre piece. It would be a winter wonderland.

As the group was working, they failed to notice they were being watched. A female in her early thirties, with long red hair tied in a ponytail at the back, with a pair of smart slim glasses on. She's wearing a black sleeveless top which seemed quite formal in design. The top overlapped the top of her indigo colour formal skirt which covered her knees. Finishing off her attire is a pair of smart black high heels. She seems to be quite interested in the group of trainers on the beach.

Drake was in a secluded section of the beach with his team of six Pokemon. Snorlax and Machamp were having a power battle to work on the technique of foot movement without using proper attacks. Cubone and Pinsir are in a sparring match. Victreebel is working on his own with his Leaf Blade, while he has the move mastered for the most part, he is working on his movements while using the attack as he tends to be an easy target as his movements are slow and predictable. Finally, Drake is working with Jolteon. In this area of the water, several small rocks are stood out of the water. These two are jumping from rock to rock working on their balance. Drake has to admit, while he has been getting close with his Pokemon since joining them with training, he also has a lot more respect for all the difficult manuvers that they perform in battle.

Also training with her Pokemon is Misty. Her Tentacruel is sparring with Ash's Wartortle. Starmie is helping Poliwag out with accuracy and power with her water gun, which is kind of fitting since Starmie was her first Pokemon and Poliwag was the last Pokemon she caught. In the water, Kingler and Goldeen are also sparring with Goldeen attacking with Horn Attack and Kingler defending against it. Psyduck, on the other hand, is stood next to Misty holding his head in the usual manner.

"Psy aye aye." Psyduck uttered, looking at her with a blank expression.

"Well Psyduck, maybe it's time I taught you to swim." Misty turned to her duck Pokemon.

"... Duck." Psyduck finished. Misty sighed with a sweat drop, this is going to be harder than she thought. In all honestly, she has been putting off training Psyduck but where better to train him to swim than a beach. Not to mention, she wouldn't want to be embarrassed in front of Rudy with a water type that can't swim.

"Vaporeon!" A familiar water type called out. Looking towards the source, Misty saw her water type eeveelution running towards her. The pure water type reached the orange haired girl and nuzzled against her leg.

"Vaporeon? What are you doing?" Misty asked as she crouched down and rubbed the eeveelutions head.

"Eon." Vaporeon replied as she cooed under her trainer's touch.

"We, like, finally found you. Misty." An all too familiar voice spoke up as four legs appeared in front of the water type specialist.

"Yeah, we have, like, been looking all over for ya." A second familiar voice added. Looking up at who those voices and legs belonged to revealed two of Misty's three sisters, Lily and Violet.

"Lily? Violet?" Misty questioned as she stood up. "What are you doing here? And why is Vaporeon with you, she is supposed to be examined to be used in gym battles.".

"Like, don't worry Misty." Violet reassured.

"Yeah, like, Vaporeon did that little test thingy." Lily continued. "She, like, can be used in battles for four badges upwards.".

"Well, at least she can start battling in them like Starmie, Goldeen, Tentacruel, and Kingler." Misty replied. Each Pokemon in a gym needs to be tested to see what sort of battles they can be used in (i.e. the number of badges the challenger should have). Shelder has never been officiated for official battles. Psyduck isn't able to battle full stop and Poliwag has been on Misty's team since she caught her. Sure, they have their parent's old Pokemon but they are only suitable for the higher badges so they kind've rely on Misty's team for lower level badges. "Still, that doesn't answer why your here.".

"We, like, brought Vaporeon to you." Violet explained.

"She, like, has been causing trouble at the gym." Lily added.

"Vaporeon's been causing trouble?" Misty asked in a concerned tone. Sure, Vaporeon can be bold at times and that leads to a sort of stubborn attitude but she has never caused any trouble. She has always listened to Misty and been a hard worker. Hang on, if she was causing trouble then... "That can't be right, she wouldn't have passed the gym test if she was causing trouble.".

"Well, like, not so much in dissident way." Violet continued.

"But, like, how your Starmie and Tentacruel are." Lily finished.

"Starmie and Tentacruel? But according to Daisy they are fine in gym battles." Misty replied. "Sure, they aren't your biggest fans but that's because you tried to force them into one of your water-shows. I still find it a little weird that Kingler seems to like them.".

Upon mentioning the Pincer Pokemon, Kingler appeared in front of Misty with a typical happy smile on his face. He waved a hello to the two older girls as well, it doesn't matter who he meets, Kingler is friendly to everyone. Soon Misty's other Pokemon had joined her, except for Goldeen since she is stuck in the ocean. Lily and Violet eyed up the line-up.

"Like, your Poliwag is such a cutie." Violet exclaimed as she picked the tadpole Pokemon up.

"Yeah, like, just give us her Pokeball and you can take Vaporeon back." Lily told Misty. "Poliwag will, like, be the star of our next show.".

"Poli!" Poliwag exclaimed as she jumped out of Violet's hands. She quickly waddled over to her trainer and jumped into Misty's arms. She hasn't had the pleasure of meeting Misty's sisters yet and after being snatched, she isn't sure she wants the pleasure.

"It's okay, Poliwag." Misty comforted before turning back to her sisters. "Look, you can't just show up and demand that I rotate my team. And my Pokemon aren't for you to put into one of your shows. They are staying at the gym to get ready for when I take over.".

"Kokeee..." Kingler muttered sadly. He has really enjoyed the times he has performed with her sisters.

"Misty, like, what is your problem. You've already won the gym so the least you can do is support us with our shows." Violet replied.

"Besides we, like, actual need to practise and don't have time to slack off. The least you could do is let us use your Pokemon." Lily added.

"What do you mean 'have time to slack off'!?" Misty exclaimed in anger. "I am on this journey to learn to be the best gym leader for when the time comes and build up a strong team to use in the gym!".

"Like, calm down Misty." Violet raised her hands in a calm manner.

"Yeah, like, you already have dad's Pokemon to handle the gym battles." Lily added. "And, like, unlike performing, battling isn't that hard. Especially since gym leaders are meant to lose so they can, like, hand out badges.".

"What!" Misty exclaimed with clear anger in her voice.

Hearing the water type trainers voice, Ash, Serena and Drake looked at the commotion. They decided to see what's up and long with their Pokemon surrounded around her. The only acceptation being Sandslash who returned himself since he doesn't care about the orange-haired girl.

"Like, it is just what we said." Violet replied.

"Sure, like, you are the best battler. But, like, that doesn't really stand for a lot." Lily explained.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." A female voice appeared to the side of the group. The tone is calm, almost monotone. Everyone turned to see the source of this tone only to discover the ice type specialist from Kanto's elite Four, stood in front of them.

"Lorelei!" The group exclaimed in unison. A small smile appeared on the strong trainer's face at the look of shock.

"Why yes, I am current training for the next challenger to Kanto's champion league." Lorelei explained. "It's a pleasure to see you again Ash, as well as your brother Drake.".

"Um yeah, hi." Ash stuttered. Not only is it a surprise to find a member of the Elite Four but it is also one to find that she remembered him. He only met her at the start of the Indigo League, and only for a few minutes.

"Ditto." Drake added in as much shock. Unlike Ash, he never actually met any of the Elite Four. He may be able to remain calm most of the time but the Elite Four and champion are ridiculously strong and loved across all the region. Of course, he would be surprised to find out any of them knew his name.

"Surely it isn't that big of a surprise. As an elite four member, I need to keep an eye out on all upcoming talent, a trainer who can make it to the top four in their first regional Pokemon league is exactly that." Lorelei explained. "Speaking off, your name is Serena Yvonne, correct?".

"Um, yes I am. Ma'am." Serena replied also shocked that Lorelei knew who she was.

"Please, call me Lorelei." The ice type specialist requested with a kind smile. She couldn't help but lightly chuckle at the girl's confusion. "You may not be a competitor in the Indigo League, but you are the youngest person to hold the chateau rank of Grand Duchess. Like I said, I need to keep an eye out for upcoming talent.".

"Oh um, thank you." Serena blushed. She never imagined she would be getting called talented by someone like an elite four member. She might not be big on the league like Ash is (with last year being the only one she really watched because Ash was competing) but she knows and respects the elite four like

"Finally, it is a pleasure to meet the Cerulean Sensational sisters." Lorelei turned her attention to the three siblings. "Lily and Violet, two out of the three best water show stars in Kanto. And Misty Waterflower, future Cerulean gym leader.".

"Um, you know who I am?" Misty asked shyly. This is a very rare sight considering Misty is prone to anger and always stands her ground, never have her friends seen her look so... Embarrassed.

"Of course. Not only are you the daughter of my once greatest rival, but I would've had to take over the Cerulean gym back when there was an out of control Tentacruel." Lorelei explained before turning towards Misty's Tentacruel. "I assume this is the same one.".

"Your greatest rival?" Lily echoed.

"Yes, your father. He and I started our journey at the same time, he chose to specialise in water types while I specialised in ice." Lorelei explained. "He also went for the same Elite Four spot back when I did. Of course, I ended up with the position but he was given the Cerulean gym.".

"Whoa, he, like, never told us that." Violet gasped.

"Yeah, like, he just told us that it was the family business. Along with mum's shows." Lily explained.

"I am sorry for your loss." Lorelei apologised, seeing the upset girls faces. It was never her intention to make them feel bad, she just wanted them to know that she respected her father and that he was a good man. "Please, come to my house to make it up for upsetting you.".

The group agreed, returning their Pokemon and collecting their stuff before following the ice type specialist towards her house. It may not seem like a good idea to just stop their training but it isn't every day you run into an Elite Four member and it isn't an opportunity you pass on.

* * *

Arriving at Lorelei's home, the group realised it wasn't so much of a home. It is much more like a holiday house, with on ocean view and a beautiful stream flowing next to it with a giant pond. Guess it makes sense, what sort of Elite Four member would reveal their home address to a bunch of kids. Still, it is a very beautiful location.

"Like, wow. This place is, like, the dream holiday place." Violet gasped.

"Like, yeah." Lily added in equal amazement.

"Thank you, this is my holiday home on Trovita island. Feel free to make yourselves and your Pokemon comfortable whilst here." Lorelei smiled. "I believe I saw one of you had a Seadra, back on the beach. I am sure she would like to take a swim in the pond.".

"Um, yes ma'am. Seadra is my Pokemon." Serena replied as she grabbed Seadra's Pokeball. For a moment, Serena wondered why Lorelei would single out her Seadra seeing as she is an ice type specialist, so surely Seel would interest her since she evolves into an ice type. Still, if Lorelei believe it would be good for Seadra, she wasn't going to argue. An Elite Four member surely knows what they are speaking about. "Come on out, Seadra.".

In a flash of light, the pure water type landed in the pond and was looking at Serena expectantly. Before her trainer made any comment, the Dragon Pokemon sensed a weird thing coming from the under the water, which seemed to resonate with her. Lorelei smiled at the water type.

"It seems your Seadra has become interested in something under the water." Lorelei explained to Serena before turning to the Dragon Pokemon. "Go on Seadra, I am sure you'll find what you're searching for. And that it will be most intriguing.".

Seadra listened to the red-haired women and turned to her trainer. While she knows this is someone who Serena and her friends look up to, she wouldn't just wonder off if her trainer didn't want her too. Receiving the nodded from Serena, Seadra dived under the water, before a bright white light appeared.

"I'm assuming there are Dragon Scales at the bottom of this pond." Drake concluded.

Lorelei replied with a small smile at the young boy's intelligence. As the light faded, a large shadow burst out of the water and appeared a Pokemon that greatly resembled Seadra but was much larger with a yellow scaled stomach and with a single branch atop its head and thin, white fins under its cheeks. Not to mention the overall appearance is just sleeker.

"Seadra?" Serena gasped as she pulled out her national-dex and scanned the new Pokemon:

 _Kingdra, The Dragon Pokemon. The final evolved form of Horsea. Kingdra lives at extreme ocean depths that are otherwise uninhabited. It has long been believed that the yawning of this Pokémon creates spiralling ocean currents._

 _Type: Water / Dragon_

 _Ability: Swift Swim_

 _Hidden Ability: Damp (Note: This hidden ability is unlocked)._

 _Gender: Female_

 _Nature: Adamant (Note: This nature is unlikely to change due to Kingdra being fully evolved)_

 _Move(s): Hydro Pump, Yawn, Bubble, Smoke Screen, Leer, Water Gun, Twister, Bubble Beam, Focus Energy, Brine, Agility, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Dance, Ice Beam, Scald, Flash Cannon, Dragon Breath, Aurora Beam, Outraged, Signal Beam, Water Pulse_

"How?" Serena questioned as it sunk in that her Seadra just evolved. Putting the device away, she approached the water, with the newly evolved Kingdra swimming towards her. Looking into the Pokemon's eyes, Serena could easily see her friend still there. Although she has had Pokemon evolve, it has always been in a battle and she just wasn't expecting this to happen. Of course, she knew of Kingdra's evolution because Ash faced one in his battle against Mandi, but she never knew how they evolve which is why this was such a shock.

"Seadra must've found a Dragon Scale. Just like how certain Pokemon evolve when exposed to Thunder, fire, Leaf and Water stones, the Dragon Scale is needed to evolve a Seadra." Drake explained. "I would guess Seadra sensed them at the bottom of this pond.".

"Correct, the water on this island have always been filled with Dragon Scales." Lorelei continued on from the explanation. "Due to this being the end of the water's journey before reaching the ocean, a lot of scales lay at the bottom of this pond. I could tell you Seadra was incredibly high levelled for its evolutionary stage, so I figure it deserved one.".

"Are you sure? I mean, surely Dragon Scales are expensive." Serena replied slightly panicked. Of course, it is too late to go back on the evolution but she can only imagine how much one would cost considering how expensive the evolutionary stones are.

"Don't worry about it, Serena. The scales do cost a fair bit, as many people use them for accessories." Lorelei reassured. "But they are not mine, they simply ended up in this pond. I live like the water, and go with the flow. You should as well, they are as much mine as they are yours.".

"Oh um, thank you." Serena thanked as she gave her newly evolved water dragon type a hug. She didn't mind getting a little bit wet, this is a special moment like when her other Pokemon have evolved.

"Congratulations Serena." Misty congratulated her friend. She can remember back when Serena caught the little Horsea, while Misty also wanted to catch it and no doubt Kingdra would be good in the gym, she can't deny that these two make a great team and is happy for them.

"Thanks Misty." Serena smiled as she ended the embrace with the dragon Pokemon. She noticed Lily and Violet walking up to them with bright smiles on their faces which both confused and concerned the honey-blonde girl.

"Misty, you should totally, like, trade Serena for her Kingdra." Violet suggested.

"Like, it looks strong. And, like, imagine the preformances it could put on." Lily added.

"You two can't be serious." Misty looked at her sisters gone out.

"We are, like, totally serious." Violet spoke up.

"You could, like, trade that Goldeen. Or maybe Tentacruel." Lily added. "Goldeen hardly battles anyway.".

"What! But she has been at the gym to help with the trainers with low badge numbers!" Misty exclaimed. "And Serena's my friend, not to mention these are all my Pokemon. I'm not going to trade them away, especially not to help you with your shows.".

Kingdra had enough of this, Kingdra has no intention of leaving Serena. While Misty is nice and can certainly handle water types but she is not her trainer, she made her choice back when Serena caught her and she hasn't regretted it since. Receiving the nod from Serena, who is just as mad with the sisters, Kingdra took a breath of water before firing two small water guns at the sisters. While not enough to hurt, it was directly on their faces, shutting them up.

"Sorry about them, Serena." Misty apologised as Kingdra's water gun came to an end.

"Don't worry about it, Misty." Serena smiled. She could never blame her friend for her sister's actions. She turned to her newly evolved Pokemon who was still looking rather angry. She can remember Pokemon changing personalities when they evolve (mainly her Beedrill), and according to her Pokedex she now has adamant, which is the same nature as Ash's Dragonair. Hopefully, Kingdra doesn't start acting like a princess. The last thing they need is a fight between royalty. "Kingdra, why don't you return for now.". Kingdra happily let herself get returned as Lorelei approached.

"Like, what was that for?" Violet asked in an annoyed tone.

"You're supposed to be, like, a grand duchess or whatever. Why don't you control your Pokemon?" Lily quickly followed up.

"Now you two, I think you should learn how to not only treat people but also treat Pokemon." Lorelei scolded the two oldest girls.

"What do you mean?" The two girls asked Lorelei at the same time.

"You are treating, not only Misty horribly but Serena and Kingdra as well." Lorelei explained. "Even if Misty wanted to trade, she couldn't force Serena to trade and even if they did. Kingdra would be Misty's Pokemon, no-one else's.".

"But, like, we share our parent's old Pokemon." Violet replied.

"Why can't we do the same with Misty's?" Lily asked.

"How many Pokemon of your parents have travelled with Misty in any capacity?" Lorelei asked. Seeing the girl's expression, she already knew the answer. "So why should Misty, let you use her Pokemon for your career? Your parents left those Pokemon to all of you, meaning you are the official trainers and need to treat them as such. As for any other Pokemon any of you catch, they are on your teams, no-one else.".

The two girls looked at each other as the realisation came over them. Despite admitting that Misty is the better battler, they haven't been respecting Misty at all. It all goes back to when their parents died, they were forced to raise her and must've been blaming that on Misty. It sounds stupid since she was a toddler but it was what they were doing. The worst part is, Daisy was never the same. Sure, back before Misty was given the gym she would tease Misty or let their behaviour go but being the oldest meant she always did most of the taking care off. What have they done?

"We're sorry." The two girls apologised to the ice type specialist.

"It isn't me that needs the apology." Lorelei replied. The two girls nodded in agreement before walking over to their sister, they made a quick apology to Serena who accepted it and moved to Ash's side while they had a moment with their little sister.

"We're sorry, Misty." Violet apologised.

"Guess we were still, like, blaming you for having to take care of you." Lily explained. "We know you had no control over the situation and we shouldn't have been blaming you for circumstances that were out of your control.".

"Can you, like, forgive us?" The sisters asked in unison.

"... Yeah." Misty replied after a moments pause. "Just stop trying to make my Pokemon do stuff they don't want to.".

"Sure, you have our word. Sis." The girls replied in unison with bright smiles. It was enough to bring a smile to Misty's face and the three sisters entered a group hug.

"Well, now that that's sorted." Lorelei spoke as she approached the group, causing the sisters to break apart. "Misty, What would you say to a battle?".

"What!" Misty exclaimed. "You, want to battle, me!?".

"Of course." Lorelei smiled. "I am currently in training for the next challenger to Kanto's champion league, in a few months. After visiting another region, I want to test to see if my latest capture would be subtle for the battle. Who better to test that than the future cerulean gym leader.".

"When you put it like that, how can I say know." Misty smiled.

"But, I was going to challenge you to a battle." Ash mopped which caused Lorelei to lightly chuckle.

"Sorry Ash, but the current can only flow one way. It seems this current is the match between Misty and I." Lorelei explained. "Don't worry, after how you preformed in the Indigo League, I am sure it is only a matter of time before you face an elite four member.".

Ash smiled at her words but was still visually upset. Both Serena and Togepi comforted the Pallet native. Lorelei looked towards her knew opponent who looked like a kid on Christmas. Lorelei also seemed to change from the lay back women to one with a flame of determination in her eye.

"I'm going to warn you, Misty. Like I said, I try to act like water and go with the flow." Lorelei informed. "But when in battle, I become as hard as ice.".

"Well me and my Pokemon are ready." Misty declared. "What are the rules?".

"How about thee one on one battles?" Lorelei suggested. "Best two out of three win.".

"Sounds good to me." Misty replied.

"Then time for my new Pokemon to make her debut." Lorelei declared as she pulled out a Pokeball. "Come forth, my friend.". In a flash of light, a Pokemon which resembled a Ninetales appeared, but it had white fur. Drake was intrigued as he never imagined Lorelei would have an alolan variant. Ash, Serena and Drake all scanned the new Pokemon with their National-Dexes:

 _Ninetales, alolan variant, The Fox Pokemon. The final evolved form of Vulpix. Possessing a calm demeanour, this Pokémon was revered as a deity incarnate before it was identified as a regional variant of Ninetales._

 _Type: Ice / Fairy_

"What's an alolan variant?" Ash asked no-one in particular.

"Alolan is a tropical region, like Hoenn." Drake explained. "Years ago, many people from Kanto and Johto migrated to the region to live and took there Pokemon. Due to changes in the environment, some of the Pokemon they took had to change to survive. Vulpix and Ninetales are among these species, hence them having an alolan form.".

"Correct." Lorelei smiled before turning back to Misty. "Misty, this will be Ninetales first battle. Of course, I have trained her but she hasn't battled with me yet. I want to see if she is suitable for the upcoming champions league.".

"Um, you said that this is for the champions league." Serena stepped up to the ice type specialist. "Who is challenging it?".

"Oh, the young man who won the last Indigo League." Lorelei replied. "Calem Xavier, is his name.".

"Wow, I hope Calem is ready." Serena muttered shocked that her cousin is facing the Elite Four. Of course, she knew he won the Indigo League and that the winner had the right to challenge the champions league, but she would've thought Calem would put it off for a while to train. She is both excited and nervous for her cousin.

"You know him?" Lorelei guessed.

"Yes, he's my cousin." Serena nodded.

While Lorelei and Serena were talking about Calem, Misty was going over her options for team members. According to the National-Dexes, Alolan-Ninetales is an Ice Fairy type. Lorelei is an ice specialist, and water doesn't have the greatest odds against them. Still, she could go after that fairy type since its weak to poison and she has a poison type who is one of her strongest Pokemon. With her mind made up, Misty grabbed her Pokeball.

"Misty calls... Tentacruel!" Misty shouted as she released her water poison type. Seeing as her opponent has made her decision, Lorelei ended the

"Now I get to see what this one is made off. I must admit I was intrigued when the report of the out of control Tentacruel came to me." Lorelei confessed. "Tell me, what is the story with the scar on her bulb.".

"When she was still in an egg, it cracked pre-maturely." Misty explained. "While she is perfectly healthy and it doesn't hurt, there is no-one to get rid of it.".

"Tenta." Tentacruel nodded in agreement as she entered a battle stance. She knows this is her trainer's idol and she heavily respects her. She will make sure her best friend is shown to be a strong and competent trainer even when facing an elite four member. Seeing the Jellyfish Pokemon enter a battle stance, Ninetales also entered one, while this is her first battle she will do everything to make a good first impression.

"As for the field, we can use both the land and pond." Lorelei explained. "Now all we need is a ref.".

"I'll do it." Drake offered. Receiving a nod from both trainers, Drake took his position as the ref. "Ninetales VS Tentacruel... Begin.".

* * *

 _Lorelei VS Misty (P. I):_

"Alright Tentacruel, start off by going for the water." Misty instructed.

Tentacruel nodded and started to crawl towards her element. Tentacruel aren't the fastest of Pokemon and that goes double on land, which gave both Lorelei and Ninetales more than enough time to counter.

"Not so fast, use Freeze-Dry on the water." Lorelei instructed.

Ninetales let out a battle cry as a powerful icy wind blew out of her mouth. The attack flew past Tentacruel, landing a super-effective hit before the Jellyfish Pokemon could even reach the water. The ice type move blew over the pond, freezing it solid.

"Well if they want a head fight, let's give them one." Misty declared. "Use Toxic!".

Tentacruel turned towards Ninetales and lifted her appendage. Three blobs of purple sludge shot out of her mouth and was aimed for Ninetales. Lorelei smirked, she knew Poison types were a major weakness of her Ninetales, so she taught her the perfect counter.

"Safeguard." Lorelei instructed without batting an eye.

Ninetales let out a sort of mystical howl towards the sky, as her whole body glew multicoloured. The blobs of toxic sludge struck Ninetales but just dissolved without affecting the ice fairy type thanks to the barrier Safeguard created.

Misty clenched her fist as she looked for some sort of opening. The battle may have only just started but Lorelei is already controlling the battle, having a counter to her every move. She needs an out there move to throw her off guard. She needs an Ash idea, and she might've just figured it out.

"Psyshock." Lorelei instructed.

She isn't an idiot, Misty is clearly looking for an opening. She isn't stupid enough to make it easy and let her have time to focus. Ninetales' eyes became clouded with a light pink colour as several balls of Psychic type appeared around her. Soon the psychic balls started to fly towards Tentacruel.

"Use Rapid Spin to dodge, and get on the ice." Misty instructed.

Tentacruel started spinning as she moved back towards the frozen pond. Moving faster than when just walking, Tentacruel easily avoided the Psychic balls which imploded when they struck the ground where Tentacruel once stood. As soon as she was spinning on the ice, Tentacruel was moving much faster.

"Well done, Misty. You've solved Tentacruel's speed problem." Lorelei praised. "But in doing so, you've moved into my element. After Tentacruel and use Nasty Plot.".

Ninetales started running towards the frozen pond as Tentacruel came to a stop. Lorelei had a hidden smirk as Ninetales has a clear advantage on this field. Not because of the stat boosts she got from using Nasty Plot but because of the padding on her feet. Unlike most Pokemon, she won't go sliding around on the ice.

"Ice Beam." Lorelei instructed.

Before either Misty or Tentacruel could respond, Ninetales fired an ice beam out of her mouth and it struck the Jellyfish Pokemon head on. Despite Tentacruel having naturally high special defence and resisting the ice type, it caused some serious damage to the water poison type. Even more worrying was the fact that the blast sent Tentacruel sliding backwards while Ninetales stood tall with no knock back from the blast thanks to her padded paws having a strong grip even on ice.

"Getting spinning again Tentacruel, we can't take another hit like that." Misty instructed. Tentacruel nodded in agreement of her trainer and started to use Rapid Spin, quickly moving across the ice field.

"Misty, you won't be able to win if your only on the run." Lorelei informed. "Keep track of Tentacruel, and wait for my word Ninetales.". The Ice Fairy type nodded and crouched down before watching the spinning Jellyfish Pokemon.

"Don't worry, we aren't running anywhere." Misty replied. "Tentacruel, I want you to prepare your favourite move, but don't use it yet. And release a haze around you whilst you continue spinning.".

Although it was a lot to ask for, Misty believes in her Tentacruel. As Tentacruel continued to spin around Ninetales, a thick fog was released from the water poison type which covered the entire field, Ninetales included.

Lorelei let out a small smile as this not only took away the power boost from Nasty Plot but also took away Ninetales sight, Misty really knows how to handle the field, just like her father.

"Now Tentacruel, Poison Jab." Misty hollered.

Not knowing where the attack was coming from meant Ninetales couldn't defend herself. Soon she was struck in the side by a powerful Poison Jab. Ninetales was sent flying since the tentacle hit it like an upper cut. Ninetales landed on the ice outside of the haze. Despite the hit being very powerful, Ninetales returned to her feet, although new to Lorelei's team, she is still an elite four members Pokemon.

Misty gasped when she saw Ninetales get up, although not surprised as she was raised by her idol, Misty knew Tentacruel would be getting tired by this point. She did have hope that she could win this match since Ninetales is knew to Lorelei's team and Tentacruel is arguably Misty's strongest Pokemon. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. Still, neither Misty or Tentacruel are just going to give up but they need to hurry as the haze is starting to fade, as well as their cover.

"Sludge Bomb!" Misty shouted.

Lorelei smirked as she saw several blobs of sludge fly out of the disappearing Haze cloud. This has been a fun battle, and when the battle started she wasn't sure of the outcome considering this was Ninetales first proper battle. This has been a lot of fun and she is looking forward to the next battle as well.

"Dodge it, and finish this with Freeze-Dry." Lorelei smirked.

Ninetales started running around the Haze cloud which was disappearing. The Sludge Bomb hit the ice and started to dissolve through the ice, due to the ice being thin, it didn't take long for the Sludge Bomb to burn through the ice, leaving three holes with water in.

Ninetales unleashed a second Freeze-Dry out of her mouth and it seemed to spread across what remained of the Haze Cloud. As the Haze faded, Tentacruel was found still on the ice with frost covering her entire body. She had been frozen.

"Tentacruel!" Misty shouted as she saw her water poison type covered in frost with swirls in her eyes. She ran to the fallen Tentacruel as she slumped down on the ice. She cradled the Jellyfish Pokemon in her arms as the call was made.

"Tentacruel is unable to battle, meaning this round goes to Lorelei and Ninetales." Drake declared.

* * *

"You were amazing, Tentacruel. Take a nice long rest." Misty praised her water poison type before returning her. As the water type trainer stood up, Lorelei smiled at her. The Elite Four member had already returned and thanked her Fox Pokemon.

"Well done Misty, I honestly wasn't sure how that battle would've gone." Lorelei praised. "But now it is time for our second round. Come forth, my friend!". Little does the group know, Lorelei set this up from the start. She always planned to create the ice field as that puts her Pokemon at a massive advantage, just like she said in battle she becomes hard as ice and doesn't know how to go easy on anyone. She isn't underestimating Misty, which is why she hasn't gone with her ace just yet. Just in case Misty is able to win this round.

In a flash of light, Lorelei's second Pokemon appeared, cracking the ice under her body, making her float in the freezing water not looking the least bit bothered by the low temperature. Ash, Serena and Drake all scanned it with their National-Dexes:

 _Dewgong, The Sea Lion Pokemon. The final evolved form of Seel. Dewgong loves to snooze on bitterly cold ice. The sight of this Pokémon sleeping on a glacier was mistakenly thought to be a mermaid by a mariner long ago._

 _Type: Water / Ice_

Serena looked at the Sea Lion Pokemon with great intrigue. So, this is what her Seel will evolve into. It may seem weird she is thinking about such things since her Kingdra just evolved but all her Pokemon are important and she can't just put the others on hold because Kingdra evolved.

Misty walked back to her position as she tried to decide who she wanted to use. Her first impulse is Starmie since it is her starter. Still, even then she doubts Starmie would be able to Lorelei's Dewgong in a one on one battle... This may sound weird, but when they set out for the Orange Islands, Misty promised herself she would start using all her Pokemon more and not just rely on Starmie, Tentacruel and Vaporeon. With her mind made up, Misty grabbed her Pokeball.

"Misty calls... Goldeen!" Misty shouted as she released her pure water type.

Goldeen landed in one of the small water holes created by the previous Sludge Bomb. Despite shivering from the cold water, she looked serious as this was her first proper battle with Misty in a while. Of course, she has been taking on battles at the gym but she can only take on challengers with a maximum of three badges. She knows enough about her opponent to know she hasn't got very good odds but she will still give Misty and this battle her all.

Needless to say, her travelling companions and sisters were shocked at Misty's choice of Pokemon. Of course, she is at the disadvantage regardless of who she picked since she is facing an Elite Four member but wouldn't Starmie with its diverse move set have better odds?

"Dewgong VS Goldeen... Begin." Drake declared.

* * *

 _Lorelei VS Misty (P. II):_

"Let's start things off with Ice Shard." Lorelei instructed.

Dewgong let out a powerful cry as a ball of ice formed in front of her mouth. Being one of the few attacks that Ash's Lapras knows, the group were used to how this attack goes but to their surprise. The Ice Shard formed much quicker than Lapras' and was clearly much bigger. In a matter of seconds, the large ball of ice shot towards the Goldfish Pokemon.

"Dodge it by diving under the water!" Misty shouted.

With great speed, Goldeen dived under the water. One thing Misty knows her Goldeen is good with is speed. Unfortunately, Dewgong's Ice Shard is quicker and not so easy to escape. The Ice Shard was set to fly right over the hole Goldeen dived under, until...

"You can't escape it that easily, Misty." Lorelei informed.

To the groups surprise, the Ice Shard made a ninety-degree turned and flew through the hole after Goldeen. Although the water did force it to slow down a touch, it was still too fast for the Goldfish Pokemon and struck Goldeen head on. The pure water type was in too much surprise after the direction change to even attempt to dodge. Lorelei smirked, Dewgong is one of her stronger Pokemon. This won't last much longer.

"Goldeen!" Misty shouted with her voice filled with concern. She sighed in relief when she saw the Goldfish Pokemon move to show she could still battle. "Since you can still battle, use Aqua Ring.".

Goldeen became surrounded by a water ball although it was hard to make out. Her body light up as some of the injury from the Ice Shard was healed up. Despite it not being very effective, it really did a number on Goldeen. Misty smiled when she saw Goldeen get healed. Although that moment of relief wouldn't last long.

"Go after Goldeen with Headbutt." Lorelei commanded.

With great power, Dewgong dived under the water. Her tail splashed a large sum of water into the air. With both speed and power, Dewgong was swimming towards the Goldfish Pokemon like a steam train. Misty gasped as that one attack could end Goldeen in one shot.

"Dodge with Agility!" Misty shouted in a panick.

More lights appeared around Goldeen and she was barely able to move out of Dewgong's way, avoiding the painful impact. Dewgong came to a halt as soon as she knew her attack missed. She turned to face the panting Goldeen. Despite being healed by the Aqua Ring, that first attack did more damage than originally thought.

"Signal Beam!" Lorelei hollered.

Game, set, match. Dewgong fired a purple bug type beam out of her mouth which easily engulfed Goldeen before either Misty or her Pokemon had time to react. The force threw Goldeen through a piece of ice that still remained. Goldeen was sent high into the air, taking major damage.

No. She was the first Pokemon Misty caught. Both Starmie and Tentacruel are two of her strongest Pokemon while she has fallen behind. She needs to prove herself, she needs to show she is just as strong as her other Pokemon, she needs to...

"Like, what is happening?" Violet asked with confusion. High in the air, Goldeen started to glow white as she continues to take damage from the Signal Beam. Her body started to grow, using ever last bit of the water types will power. When the glowing stopped, Goldeen had evolved. The trio brought out their National-Dexes and scanned the newly evolved Pokemon:

 _Seaking, The Goldfish Pokemon. The final evolved form of Goldeen. Trainers who are crazy for Seaking are divided into horn enthusiasts and fin enthusiasts. The two groups do not get along well._

 _Type: Water_

Even though Seaking just evolved, it wasn't able to recover from Dewgong's brutal assault as the Signal Beam came to an end. The female water type splashed into the water, resurfacing a few moments later with swirls in her eyes. This was more of a one-sided beat down than a battle. Although a Pokemon receives a massive power boost when they first evolve, even that wasn't enough to save the Goldfish Pokemon. This is the true strength of the Elite Four.

"Seaking is unable to battle, meaning both this round and battle goes to Lorelei and Dewgong." Drake declared.

* * *

"Return Seaking..." Misty muttered as she recalled her fallen Pokemon. She smiled sadly at the Pokeball once it contained her newly evolved Pokemon. Seaking put everything it could into that battle, and evolved as a result. Still, she was no match for an elite four member. Seaking was the first Pokemon she caught when she first set out on her journey, even before meeting Ash and Serena. Although, she didn't give her the proper time and that showed in this battle. "I'm sorry, Seaking.".

"Poor Seaking, and after she evolved too." Serena sighed as she watched her friend looking at her Pokeball. She knows it was unlikely that Misty could defeat Lorelei, although she came close against Ninetales. Still, it was sad to know that even after evolving, Seaking was no match. This has got to be the worst kind of evolution a Pokemon could have.

"I know." Ash replied as he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend. "I can't think of a worst way for a Pokemon to evolve.".

"Well evolution isn't a healing technique. She took too much damage as a Goldeen, and stood no chance against Dewgong." Drake offered his thoughts. Seeing the look from Serena, he decided to explain. "I don't mean to imply that Misty is weak, but she lost the battle the moment she chose Goldeen. If I'm not mistaken, Goldeen only battled in gym matches for three or less badges. Lorelei is an elite four member, she just lacked both the strength and experience. Although, I doubt the result would've been different if Misty went with another Pokemon. It just wouldn't have been one sided.".

Misty, after a couple of minutes of looking at her Seaking's Pokeball, she smiled and clipped it to her belt. She knew when she saw Dewgong that she couldn't win regardless of who she chose. That is why she went with Goldeen. She almost always uses Starmie, Tentacruel or Vaporeon. She wanted to give one of her other Pokemon a chance to battle. Sure, she used Tentacruel against Ninetales but that was because Ninetales was new to Lorelei's team and she had a shot at winning. In the end, she can't regret her decision. She would've lost even with Starmie and at least this way her Seaking evolved. This is the best possible, realistic outcome.

"Well done, Misty." Lorelei approached the orange haired girl with Dewgong by her side. Misty noticed she had returned to her calm demeanour. "You battled well and while it might not seem like it, your Seaking did a good job.".

"While I'm happy she evolved, the battle was pretty one sided." Misty sheepishly replied.

"While that is true, a lot of Pokemon in Goldeen's position would've just given up." Lorelei explained. "Although she was at a clear disadvantage, she still battled her hardest which resulted in her evolution. That just goes to show what a great trainer you are.".

"Hehehehe, thank you Lorelei." Misty nervously chuckled with a blush. Never did she imagine her idol would complement her on battling, especially after such a one-sided loss. "That is kind of you to say.".

"Like, well done Misty." Violet praised as both of Misty's sisters approached her.

"You were, like, in total sync throughout the whole battle." Lily praised. "And, like, Tentacruel almost actually won.".

"Thanks, you two." Misty smiled. "And I hope you won't keep forcing my Pokemon to do your shows.".

"Like, no. We've totally learnt our lesson." Violet replied.

"We will only, like, use your Pokemon in gym battles." Lily added. To Misty's surprise, she felt one her Pokeballs wiggle on her belt. She didn't even need to look to see who it was, and she knew what they were trying to say.

"Actually, maybe you could still use one of my Pokemon who actually enjoys preforming with you." Misty informed with a small smile.

"Like, who is it?" Violet asked.

"Starmie, or Seaking?" Lily asked, both of them have never complained about preforming and are both excellent at making the girls look beautiful. Unfortunately, the only one of Misty's Pokemon who enjoys the shows is neither of those two.

"It's Kingler." Misty informed with a smile. The two sisters fell over in disbelief, that was not who they were expecting to be the Pokemon who wants to perform with them.

With the battle over, the group bid goodbye to Lorelei and returned to the Pokemon Centre to get both of Misty's Pokemon healed up. Misty actually did swap Vaporeon with Tentacruel since she has been on Misty's team since Ash won his second badge. Although Tentacruel doesn't like Misty's sisters, she promised to behave and work with them for gym battles.

Lily and Violet also bid goodbye to the group, leaving to get a ship to an island with an airport. Back when Misty was given the gym (when she becomes of age to run it) they didn't truly respect her. They consider battling beneath preforming anyway but now they can see that Misty is just as much as a sensational sister as they are.

Serena took the time to show her on hand Pokemon that Kingdra evolved. Although gaining a stubborn streak with evolution, Kingdra is still a loyal Pokemon and even though dragon types have a reputation for becoming unruly when they evolve, she is still a part of Serena's team. Speaking of, it has been a while since she caught a new Pokemon to her team...

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	11. Get Along, Little Pokemon

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the first of Serena's two caught Pokemon in the Orange Islands. This is a Pokemon which, I honestly had no real intention of using when I first started but when I got to Hoenn in my planning, I realised I hadn't given Serena a certain type and I still needed one more Pokemon for this arc anyway. It's not that I have anything against this Pokemon (or its evolutions) I just never really considered it. I want to make one thing clear, Serena believes her father is dead (being the main reason they moved to Pallet) but in reality, he is very much alive. I am not ready to reveal who her father is but I will say Serena has to get her blonde hair from somewhere. (On a side note, sorry this one took so long to get up, I have had a bit of writers block and this is eating up one of the chapters I wrote in advance. Hopefully it passes soon but I can't make any promises with that). Anyway, remember to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 11: Get Along, Little Pokemon_

"How much longer before we get to Trovita gym?" Ash groaned as he whipped his forehead of the sweat gathering there. The group are currently trekking across Trovita island towards Ash's third Orange League gym. Unfortunately, the path they are on is a dry, hot, canyon.

"If we continue at this rate..." Drake pretended to check his Pokegear. "We should arrive in the middle of Never-ember, since we're not moving.". Like everyone else, he too is bothered by the heat and this is the seventh time Ash has asked, today alone. They maybe on good terms but like all siblings they can annoy each other.

"I'm serious, Drake!" Ash snapped back. "I don't think I've ever been this tired throughout our entire journey.".

"Well, we haven't been getting much exercise on the back of Lapras." Serena pointed.

"Not to mention this heat." Misty added.

"Still, complaining won't do us any good. There is a small town nearby." Drake replied. "It will add a little onto our journey to Trovita gym but at least we can get shelter for the night. But if we want to make it than we need to keep moving.".

The trio groaned at Drakes instructions but they started walking with him anyway. They know it's not Drake's fault and he is just uncomfortable in the weather as the rest of them. He just doesn't feel the need to voice his annoyance unlike the others.

It seems not only the humans are annoyed with the current weather conditions. Pikachu is jumping between Ash's two shoulders, unable to get comfy with the intense heat. Plus, Togepi isn't fairing much better, Ash in bouncing him up and down to keep him from crying, that would only add to everyone's annoyance. The only one who seems to be enjoying the current weather is Cubone, seeing as he is a ground type this would be his ideal environment.

"Hey guys, what's that?" Misty asked as she pointed to the side of them. Looking in that direction, they saw a giant black cloud fill the sky and it was closing in on them fast. Drake seemed to be the only one to notice Pikachu's cheeks spark.

"We need to find cover fast." Drake instructed as he looked around. Soon he spotted. "Under that rock should do it.". Not waiting for a response, Drake took off for the rock, with Cubone at his heel. The group looked at each other before running after them. They may be getting on each other's nerves, but that is down to the heat and it doesn't change the fact that Drake knows what he is doing.

Drake and Cubone made it under the cover first, moments before a heavy rain pour started. The rest of the group soon join them but they were hit by the storm, although Togepi seemed to enjoy the fresh cold water. Weird since he prefers baths over showers.

"Where did this rain come from?" Serena asked.

"It sure came in quickly, almost like a Pokemon used Rain Dance." Misty added.

"Were on an island surround by water with intense heat." Drake replied. "Rain clouds are formed when sea water evaporates and the water vapour is in the air. The water vapour is collected into the clouds before it becomes too heavy and falls back down in the form of rain.".

"That still doesn't explain its quick arrival." Ash replied.

"Due to us being surrounded by ocean for literal miles, rain clouds form a whole lot easier than they would on a mainland like Kanto." Drake explained. "And due to Trovita location on the map, I wouldn't be surprised if it is position the middle of the typical wind currents, meaning this is where most storms pass through.".

The group accepted the answer as it seems to make sense and none of them really have enough knowledge on the subject to make a counter argument. That is one thing about Drake and his seem less endless knowledge, it is hard for anyone to keep a conversation with him, unless they are some sort of genius.

Although, the group couldn't keep that thought train for long as a Pokemon soon appeared on a rock above them. They easily recognised it, as Drake has one as well but unlike his who is energetic this one is barking at them. Ash couldn't even translate as it isn't saying any coherent words, like when one of his Pokemon let out a battle cry. Drake soon had his hand on a Pokeball ready to battle, he knows from his own Pokemon of the same species that they are tough in battle. It was a Jolteon.

Ash too hand his hand on a Pokeball ready to battle if needed. Much to the groups relief, an old-fashioned wagon being pulled by two Tauros appeared behind the electric type eeveelution. A man dressed like a traditional cowboy was in the driving seat. A bolt of lightning shout out of the sky and struck what looked like a group of Pokemon in the air. The group didn't have chance to properly identify them because of how close and dangerous the lightening was.

"Get in!" The man demanded. "You'll be safe from the storm in here.".

Although not smart to trust a stranger, the group realised they don't have much choice seeing as staying where they are could result in them getting fried. Serena and Misty were the first to climb in, who were soon followed by Ash and Drake.

"Thank you, sir. We didn't expect a storm to just appear." Misty thanked the man.

"Now don't ya start with that sir none-sense, little missy." The man replied with a jolly smile. "Ya'll can just call me Ethan.".

"Well thank you, Ethan." Misty thanked again. "My names Misty.".

"And I'm Serena." Serena was the next to introduce herself. "And this is my boyfriend Ash.". Serena had a radiant smile on her face as she introduced Ash, although she doesn't need to hold his hand when walking (unless on a date) she still can't stop from feeling happy about their relationship even after a year of being together.

"Hi. These are my partners, Pikachu and Togepi." Ash spoke up next. He didn't need to introduce himself since Serena already did it so he went on to introduce his two Pokemon outside their Pokeballs. Pikachu waved a hello while Togepi just chirped happily from his daddy's hands.

"Drake. Cubone." Drake introduced himself and his ground type.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet ya'll." Ethan greeted. "I'm a-guessing that ya'll were crossing the island to-get-to the gym on the south end.".

"Um, yes Ethan." Ash replied with surprise. "But how did you know that?".

"Hehehehe, simple really. Not much happens around these parts, at least not work related." Ethan chuckled. "The only real time anything happens is when the League comes around, so I make sure to catch it. Which is how I know your one of 'em competing trainers, Ash.".

"Oh wow." Ash gulped. He didn't realise that so many people would know who he was simply for competing in the Orange League. It sort of makes sense that the Officer Jenny's do since at the Indigo League they brought in from all over the region to maintain order and it is possible something similar would happen at the other leagues. Plus, it makes sense that the gym leaders know who will be challenging them but having just a regular citizen recognise him is a little overwhelming.

"Ethan, you mentioned work? What is it that you do?" Drake asked changing the subject.

"Well, I run a mobile Magnamite ranch." Ethan replied as he pointed up to the sky. The lightning bolt had disappeared and the rain cloud was moving away. Now the group could properly identify the Pokemon that was stuck by the lightening as Magnamite. Ash, Serena and Drake scanned them with their National-Dexes:

 _Magnamite, The Magnet Pokemon. They gather in places where electricity is available. They can be found clinging to the steel towers used to support power lines. It sends out electromagnetic waves, which let it float through the air. Touching it while it's eating electricity will give you a full-body shock._

 _Type: Electric / Steel_

"Ya know, I always found it weird how Magnamite can be hurt by ground moves like Earthquake despite levitating." Misty commented thoughtfully as she watched the sun return over head.

"It's a simple explanation." Drake replied. "Magnamite and its evolved forms float by releasing electromagnetic waves beneath them. It is something their body naturally does, like how our hearts beat. They are affected by moves like earthquake because it disturbs the ground underneath them which in turn disrupts their balance. Think of those waves like Magnemite's legs, and when attack can leave them wide open.".

"Say now, your pretty smart for a young-en." Ethan praised the oldest twin.

"Thanks." Drake replied in response.

"So, what does a mobile Magnamite ranch do?" Serena asked.

"We chase storms around these parts to collect the wild electricity." Ethan explained. "Then we deliver it to all the towns on this island when they need power. Since more storms appear on Trovita than any other island in this region, they can strike key building and leave 'em towns without power.".

"Chasing storms... It sounds like a pretty dangerous job." Serena muttered.

"It sure is, little missy." Ethan replied with a bright smile. "But it is also an important one.".

In another flash of lightening, the group of Magnamite were struck and charged up. With that, the storm cloud seemed to disappear. Although it was a heavy storm, it is travelling across the island. Ethan put a whistle in his mouth and blew hard, which caused the entire group of Magnamite to swam around them.

"Wow, those Magnamite sure have been well trained." Misty commented.

"Well shoot'n, course. I can't be have'n them floating off now, can I." Ethan replied.

"Wouldn't it be easier if you kept them in their Pokeballs?" Ash asked.

"Please, all these Magnamite are wild. My only Pokemon are my two Tauros, Jolteon and an old buddy who comes out when in a rush." Ethan smiled. "If I caught 'em, I would only have two on hand, that anit enough to power up a town.".

"But what if someone tries to catch them?" Serena asked. "Or what if they decided to wonder off?". As if on cue, a couple of Magnamite started to wonder away.

"Well, nothings stop'n someone else catch'n them. But then again, they aren't exactly mine to begin with." Ethan explained. "As for them wonders, that practically describes number six. It is also why I have Jolteon, here.".

At the mention of his name, Jolteon shot off around to the couple of wondering Magnamite and unleashed a small static shock which drew the wonders in. The electric type eeveelution lead them back to the group.

"Number six?" Drake questioned. "You can tell them apart?".

"Of course." Ethan replied. "That's number 1. And there's number 2. Number three is right over there...".

"Can you tell the difference?" Misty whispered in Serena's ear, no-longer paying attention as Ethan went through all fifth-teen.

"Well, Number 6 looks a little different. I guess." Serena whispered back. "But all the others look the same.".

"How bout, I give ya'll a lift towards the gym side?" Ethan offered. "I'm a heading that way, anyway. And it'll save ya'll getting stuck in another shower.".

"Wow, thanks Ethan that'd be great." Ash thanked. The others in the group also showed they're thanks to the offer and soon the group set off across the Trovita Island in Ethan's cart.

* * *

It is the morning after meeting Ethan. They travelled by cart for most of the day after meeting the Magnamite handler, only stopping for a couple of storms and when it was night time. It wasn't a massive deal as they were getting the ride for free and they still covered more ground than they would've by foot. Also as thanks, the group cooked the food and offered Ethan some.

On the journey, Drake let his own Jolteon out to learn from the more experienced of the same species. Of course, Drake's is more prepared for battle when compared to Ethan's but it just seemed like the right thing to do. Guess Drake really is changing over the course of this journey since he wouldn't have done such a thing prior to his travels with Ash.

"Understood Nurse Joy. We'll be over as soon as." Ethan spoke over his phone. He climbed out of the cart to see the youngens all packed up. He hates to do this to them after offering them a lift to but he doesn't have much choice.

"Hey Ethan, is everything alright?" Ash asked seeing his sour expression.

"Sorry ya'll but I can't continue to give ya'll the ride to the gym." Ethan apologised. "The two where it is has been struck by lightning and they need my Magnamite to power them up. I'll need to take the fast track which only allows me and my team to go.".

"It's alright, Ethan. We understand." Ash spoke on behalf of the group.

"Thank ya'll, and sorry about not being able to help ya'll." Ethan replied. "To bad none ya'lls can ride Rhyhorn, otherwise that could solve the issue.".

Upon mentioning the sport her mother is a champion in, Serena became incredibly nervous and moved subtly behind Ash. The raven-haired boy doesn't mind since he knows Serena can ride them but really hates it. She has nothing against the Pokemon but she has been thrown off her mother's more than enough times.

"Why would that be able to solve the issue?" Misty asked.

"I'll shall ya'll, little missy." Ethan replied as he took out another Pokeball. Throwing it in the air, released a giant Rhyhorn. Based on memory, it is a lot bigger than Brock's but was around the same size as Grace's. "Ya see, when we need to fast travel. I pack the cart down and ride my old pal here. Unlike my Tauros, he can handle all the different terrains on this island.".

"So, if one of us could ride him?..." Serena nervously asked.

"Then ya'll could ride him to the town and I could continue to give the rest of ya'll a lift in the cart." Ethan answered.

Drake glanced at the honey-blonde girl hiding behind his brother. She knows how to ride Rhyhorn, probably better than Ethan after all that training. Unlike Ash who had a couple of lessons from Grace before he broke his arm when he was thrown off, Drake hasn't even been taught the basics but even if he could do something that made him uncomfortable, he would do it if it was for the great good of the group. He doesn't want to get stuck in another surprise storm.

"Ethan, then why doesn't Serena ride Rhyhorn and the Magnamite towards the town?" Drake asked bluntly.

"What's that?" Ethan blinked in surprise before turning towards Serena. "Little missy, ya'll can handle Rhyhorn?".

"Um well, my mum is a retired Rhyhorn racer and she gave a few lessons on riding them." Serena nervously replied before shooting daggers at her boyfriend's twin. Despite them looking the same, they couldn't be more different. Her Ash would never have pulled such a stun, and would never make her do something she isn't comfortable with. "Grace Yvonne.".

"Well now, ya'll Yvonne's daughter? Rhyhorn would be honour to have any Yvonne ride him." Ethan smiled. Other than moving after her father past away, they were going to move once Grace retired anyway. Being famous in Kalos meant they couldn't have the normal life. Her father's death just made it happen a little sooner.

"Um, then I don't mind taking the Magnamite." Serena gulped. She would hate to embarrass her mum's name as a Rhyhorn racer not to mention it would mean her friends don't get caught in another storm. She may not exactly be happy with Drake after that stunt but objectively speaking, it is the best thing for everyone.

"You don't need to do this if you don't want to, Serena." Ash whispered in her ear as she walked past him towards the Rhyhorn.

"It's fine Ash... Really." Serena whispered back, ending with a peck on the check.

Ash walked over to Rhyhorn, making sure to approach him from the front. She kneeled down in front of him asking for permission to ride with him. After receiving conformation, she stood up and climbed onto Rhyhorn's back. For a moment, Serena was expecting Rhyhorn to try and throw her off but he never did. It is a reasonable assumption that her mum's Rhyhorn was told to do that in the lessons to add another layer of difficulty.

"Now little missy, ya'll can take Jolteon with ya's to keep 'em Magnamite in check." Ethan explained as he approached her. He also pulled out a whistle out of his pocket and handed it to her. It is presumable that he has loads of them considering how vital they are and how easy the can be broken or lost.

"Thank you." Serena thanked.

"Just head down this path and ya'll should reach the town by nightfall." Ethan explained. Serena nodded in understanding as she turned towards the group of electric Pokemon. Blowing the whistle, Jolteon quickly rounded up the Magnamite.

"Let's go Rhyhorn." Serena told the ground rock type. With a flick of the reins, Rhyhorn started charging down the path Ethan pointed them down with Jolteon running alongside him whilst keeping the Magnamite close in with small bursts of electricity.

"Well what'cha wait'n for?" Ethan asked as he climbed into the driving seat of his cart. "Get in, we might not be as fast as old Rhyhorn but the sooner we leave, the soon we get there.".

The group looked at each other before climbing into the cart. As soon as the trio of Ash, Misty and Drake were seated, they started charging off down the path Serena left. Although only a couple of minutes behind her, they couldn't spot her, which just goes to show how much faster Rhyhorn is. Obviously, Tauros are naturally faster but they also have the cart and everything else to pull.

As the group continued down the path, Drake couldn't help but notice that Ash wasn't exactly happy with him. While he is spending his time talking with Pikachu and Togepi, tension is clear in the air. It doesn't bother Drake, so what if Serena doesn't like riding Rhyhorn, it is better that than get stuck in another storm, they might not be able to find cover this time.

* * *

It is hard to tell how long Serena has been riding. A good few hours based on how the sun has changed its position in the sky but it doesn't really matter. Although it is impossible to say, Serena feels like she is making good time.

They have come up to a small stream running down the direction they were going. Deciding to take a break, Serena released her Pokemon and got them some lunch out. Even Jolteon and Rhyhorn were drinking from the lake. Although she doesn't have specially made food for these two Pokemon, she still feed them. The main issue is the Magnamite. According to Ethan, they feed on the electricity from the thunderstorms and there isn't a cloud anywhere near. While it may be wasting time by taking a break, it is better that than tire Rhyhorn horn out before they reach the destination.

"Okay guys, don't take too long." Serena told her Pokemon.

Jolteon and Rhyhorn were grateful for the break and while not thrilled about the flavour of the food, they are grateful that Serena gave them some. Farfetch'd and Beedrill are sat together, while they didn't get on to begin with these two have become friends over time. Seel and Kingdra were in the stream and were enjoying the cool water. Eevee and Kangashkan are sat by Serena. Likewise, Serena has the stuff to make a sandwich for herself. While not the typical hot meal they cook, it is better than nothing and they don't even have the time to set the cooking gear up.

While they enjoyed the break, Serena's mind started to wonder about the day so far. To be honest, while not completely happy about Drake calling her out like he did, she can't blame him and she probably would've spoke up at some point if only to help the poor Pokemon who were put in danger by the power outage.

Other than that, she can't help but notice how different ridding Ethan's Rhyhorn is to riding her mother's way back. To start with, Ethan's Rhyhorn didn't try to throw her off when she got on. Although it could be because he knows the urgency of the situation, Serena can't help but think that her mothers only did so to make training that much harder, while she loves her mum, she has to admit she likes challenges and likely told her Rhyhorn to add that challenge for Serena's lessons.

It could also be because they aren't in a race, at least not against another person but there isn't as much pressure on them. It could also be because no-body is watching and critiquing their every move. Although she still doesn't want to become a Rhyhorn racer, this isn't nearly as bad as she remembers it.

Although the break wasn't long at all, ten-minutes at most, Serena didn't want to spend too long doing nothing. Collecting the bowls and putting them away, she let the Pokemon each get a drink of water before returning her team. She turned to Jolteon and saw the Magnamite partly scattered. She blew the whistle and the electric type eeveelution gathered up all the Magnamite in sight. Just as a double check, she started to count them.

"One, two, three..." Serena muttered as she counted left to right. Unlike Ethan, she isn't able to tell them apart but is simply just counting them. "... Thirteen, Fourteen.". Hold on, there is supposed to be fifth-teen. Now that she is looking, they all look exactly alike, and number six was the only one she could properly identify.

Looking around in a panick, Serena spotted a bright light shiny a little over a hill. Although not confirmed, it is likely that was the sun shining off number six's body. It one swift movement she was back on Rhyhorn's back. With a blow of the whistle, Jolteon was keeping the other Magnamite in the group as they charged after the lone wonder.

It didn't take them long to get over the hill and what Serena saw scared her greatly. A Nidoqueen was beating up number 6. Looking a little bit away, she saw a little cave with a couple of Nidoran inside. It is presumable that this is their home. Still, Serena has to get Number 6 back and it doesn't look like Nidoqueen is in a talking mood. Although she doesn't want to, it looks like she will need to battle Nidoqueen.

Quickly going through her Pokemon, Beedrill and Farfetch'd are strong but neither are at a proper advantage. Kingdra and Seel, while have the type advantage aren't in the right environment. Seel would struggle greatly and is probably at a power disadvantage while Kingdra would be a sitting Psyduck. Finally, is Eevee and Kangashkan, out of those two, one of them has a good move and should be able to get through. Maybe a little mother to mother talk would help as well.

"Kangashkan, I need your help!" Serena shouted as she threw the Safari Ball into the air.

Serena jumped off Rhyhorn's back and ran behind her Kangashkan. The normal type saw what was happening and knew it was time to battle. Serena wasn't worried about making this like a contest battle since only really Farfetch'd and Beedrill has mastered that sort of thing. Nidoqueen spotted the new intruders and also entered a battle stance.

* * *

 _Serena VS Nidoqueen:_

"Start off with Fake Out!" Serena shouted.

Taking the first move, Kangashkan clenched her fist before charging towards the ground poison type. A moment before the fist collided with Nidoqueen's face, the normal type made a surprise slap across the wild mother's face, causing her to flinch.

"Now use Ice Punch!" Serena continued.

Kangashkan clenched her fist and it became surrounded in ice. The parental Pokemon began to unleash a powerful barrage of ice type punches on Nidoqueen. This advantage didn't last long as soon Nidoqueen's Poison Point ability activated.

Nidoqueen clenched her fist as the poison took effect on Kangashkan, causing the Ice Punch assault to stop. The glowing fist struck the normal type and seemed to power up Nidoqueen's attack. It was Power-Up-Punch.

This surprised Serena as that is a move normally saved for TM or special training. Wild Pokemon typically only have moves they learn naturally. Although it is rare to find moon stones in the wild so it is likely that this Nidoqueen once had a trainer, meaning it won't be as easy as a wild Pokemon typically would be.

"Sucker Punch!" Serena shouted.

Although not super effective, the surprise punch was enough to take the wild Nidoqueen by surprise. Standing up, the two motherly Pokemon faced off and entered another battle stance. Clenching both of their fists they started a boxing match between Ice Punch and Power-Up-Punch respectively.

Kangashkan's Ice Punches seemed to pack more of a punch thanks to being super effective as well as Kangashkan having more formal training more recently compared to her opponent. Unfortunately, the Power-Up-Punches were powering up Nidoqueen by a decent amount and she is not exactly weak to begin with.

As the two Pokemon continued to trade blows back and forth, number six was watching the two Pokemon and trainer. It has always been a pain towards Ethan and the others. It's not his fault, he has always been the curios type and very trusting now it has put this girl and her Pokemon in danger.

While it seemed like the two Pokemon were evenly matched, but the poison once again took its effect on Kangashkan. This caused the normal type to stop her assault and was knocked away by another Power-Up-Punch.

"Kangashkan!" Serena shouted, her voice filled with concern.

Nidoqueen growled as she turned her attention to Serena. This girl is the one that brought the normal type. No-doubt she has other Pokemon and despite being strong, she isn't able to handle a full team by herself. Making a logical decision, Nidoqueen fired off a Thunderbolt towards Serena. It was one of the last moves her trainer tried to teach her before letting her start her family and due to the constant thunderstorms around her, she completed the training as a way to protect her young.

Kangashkan pushed herself up as she saw the lightning bolt fly towards her trainer. Activating another Sucker Punch to move as quickly as possible, she ignored the poisonous sting all over her body and charged towards Nidoqueen to stop the attack. Although she isn't fast enough.

Surprisingly, someone else was fast enough. Deciding it was tired of its naivety putting others in danger, number six shot in front of the Thunderbolt as fast as it could. Being one of the lighter steel types and being so small meant it could intercept the Thunderbolt before it struck Serena. Feeding off the electricity, number six began to glow white.

Kangashkan's Sucker Punch struck Nidoqueen hard and knocked her into a rock. This cancelled the Thunderbolt. The normal type clenched her fist and another Ice Punch as her other hand grab Nidoqueen by the throat and blocked her against the rock.

"What is wrong with you?" Kangashkan angrily growled at the poison ground type. "Why would you attack my trainer like that?".

"She trespassing, you all are." Nidoqueen struggled against Kangashkan's grip. "I only want to defend my family.".

"Defend them against what? A Magnamite?" Kangashkan retorted. "Was it really threating you or your children in any way?".

"Well... It entered our home." Nidoqueen replied.

"That small cave?" Kangashkan asked. "Or was it just passing by, probably not even knowing that you were there. You may live in that hole but that doesn't mean you own the land surrounding it.".

"Still, your trainer had you attack me." Nidoqueen retorted, clutching for straws.

"Because you wouldn't listen. You know she chose me from her team because she is hoping I can make you see sense. Mother to mother." Kangashkan replied. "If she chose the bee or duck than you wouldn't be given this chance.".

"Bee or duck?" Nidoqueen questioned. "Never mind that, I just want to keep my children safe. They hatched little over a week ago.".

"I get that, but we only want to get the... Magneton, guess he evolved." Kangashkan replied. "How about we call a truce, we take the Magneton and you stay here, no need to continue this fight.".

"Fine... And sorry about the poison." Nidoqueen apologised. "My main concern was keeping my child safe.".

"I understand that, I've lost count the amount of times I've gone over the top to protect Roo." Kangashkan replied. She took more poison damage. "Gah, this poison really stings.".

"Roo?" Nidoqueen questioned.

"Serena named her, and she likes it." Kangashkan answered.

"She?" Nidoqueen questioned. "I've always wondered how your species work like that.".

"We always have a child, when our child is about to evolve into us, we have another child born." Kangashkan explained. "A child is also born when we first evolve. Since it doesn't hatch from an egg, and is never found away from us people don't count them as Pokemon.".

"So where do the fathers come from?" Nidoqueen asked.

"We reproduce asexually. Makes things easier in the long run, and takes out the time issue we use to have." Kangashkan explained.

"If that's right, then why do people classify all members of your species as female?" Nidoqueen asked.

"Because people are stupid and think that if a creature gives life to another being then they are automatically female." Kangashkan explained tactlessly. "I mean, we can breed with other Pokemon but we don't need to. It just saves a bunch of time and effort.".

"Interesting..." Nidoqueen mused thoughtfully.

"Any way, if I let you go now, you're not going to attack again, right?" Kangashkan asked.

"No, just hurry up and leave please. It is nap time for the children." Nidoqueen replied. Kangashkan let her go and slumped down, man this poison is really taking its toll on her.

Serena smiled sympathetically at her normal type. She might not understand Pokemon like Ash can but she knows her well enough to know they came to some sort of understanding. This was why she chose Kangashkan, not because of any sort of type advantage but because the best way to get through to a mother is with a mother. Kangashkan has always been the mother figure of Serena's Pokemon and that made her the perfect choice for this battle.

"Return Kangashkan, and thank you." Serena recalled her poisoned normal type. Unfortunate, Drake is the one who keeps all the medical supplies for the group so she doesn't have an antidote to heal the parental Pokemon. Although the Pokemon should nullify the poisons effects while she is inside so she should be fine until they make it to the Pokemon centre.

The normal type happily allowed herself to get recalled and Serena clipped the Pokeball to her belt. Nidoqueen stood in front of the cave and watched. She will keep her promise but is making sure the girl doesn't try anything. The newly evolved electric steel type floated up to her.

"Hey, number six. You've evolved congratulations." Serena praised, surely now that its evolved it can provide even more power to the Pokemon Centre. She made a quick glance at Nidoqueen and decided standing around isn't helping anyone. "Let's return to the others and get to the town which needs power.".

Climbing onto Rhyhorn's back Serena did a swift turn around and started to ride towards the town with Jolteon by her side, who was keeping the fourteen Magnamite and one Magneton all together. They don't need another run in with a wild Pokemon.

* * *

"What?" Drake asked in an annoyed tone.

It is currently night time. The group haven't stopped at all while riding all day and should hopefully make it to the town tomorrow before noon. They kind of have to stop now as it is too dark to see where they are going and the Tauros are rightfully exhausted.

The reason for Drake's irritation is his brother. Ash has been giving him the cold shoulder all day. In all honesty, the two brothers have mostly been talking with their Pokemon during the ride. While Drake understands that Ash's hostility is coming from the fact that he pointed Serena's secret out, why is it such a big problem?

"Why did you point out that Serena knows how to ride Rhyhorn?" Ash asked. "You know she doesn't like it. She hasn't even ridden one since she was eight.".

"Because it was the right thing to do?" Drake answered directly.

"Right how?" Ash asked. "Because you don't like walking and just wanted a ride?".

"It's right, because of the Pokemon in danger by the lack of power." Drake replied. "Just think about all the Pokemon who were relying on the equipment at the Pokemon centre, the equipment which runs on electricity. I am sure their health is more important than your girlfriend's happiness.".

Ash just stared his brother down, and rattled his brain for some sort of argument but he couldn't. How could you claim that another being's life is less important than someone's happiness? Although he hates to admit it, Drake has made a good point.

"Your right..." Ash muttered under his breath, making Drake smirk victoriously. "Still, we don't know where she is. Our Pokegear have lost signal so it is impossible to contact her. What if something happened?".

"Then she would deal with it." Drake replied bluntly. "She isn't some sort of damsel in distress, she conquered the Battle Chateau. If something was to have happened than she would've dealt with it.".

Ash just stared at his brother in disbelief, of course he knows Serena isn't a damsel in distress and he believes she can handle herself in tough situations but... But he is worried about her, is that really wrong of him? Not decided to continue the discussion, Drake stood up with a sleeping Cubone in his hands.

"I'm going to bed, don't wait up." Drake told his brother as he went to bed.

Ash just stared at him as he disappeared into the tent. He really dislikes his brother sometimes, he does things which Ash can't stand but he uses sound logic and reasoning for his actions. In short, he plans and wins most any argument they have before it even begins.

* * *

It was late at night. Serena was about to set her Pokemon down for the night and set up came. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a tent so it would mean roughing it in her sleeping bag. The girls tent is carried by Misty, and she has most of the cooking utensils.

Lucky, Serena was able to see the lit torches of the town. It seems they are using candles as a light-source since the power is out. With them being so close, the entire group pushed on. Not only to help the Pokemon at the Pokemon Centre but also because Kangashkan is still poisoned and needs help as well.

Upon entering the town, Serena noticed Rhyhorn seemed to have slowed down, probably to ensure he doesn't charge into a building or hit someone. He also was going off his own direction since he has been to the place before and knows his way around. Taking the time to do a quick head count of the electric steel types, revealed that all fourteen Magnamite and the Magneton were still here. Good, at least none of them were lost.

It didn't take long for Rhyhorn to get the honey-blonde girl to the Pokemon Centre. Unfortunately, it seemed like this place was also running off electrical power. Using the whistle as she climbed off the ground rock type, Serena lead: Jolteon, the Magnamite and Rhyhorn through the doors.

"Nurse Joy!" Serena announced as she opened the door.

Upon the new voice, the Pokemon Nurse appeared from around the corner with a look of concern and confusion. She was afraid she would need to deliver bad new to a trainer seeing as the power was but to her surprise and delight she found said trainer had the Magnamite she was waiting on. She also had Ethan's Jolteon and Rhyhorn. Not to mention his whistle, it is clear why they are here.

"Oh, thank goodness. I was beginning to worry we would have to go the night without power." Nurse Joy sighed in relief. Jolteon walked to the nurse side, bringing the Magnamite along with him.

"Sorry Nurse Joy, we ran into a little trouble on the way." Serena apologised. "Um, could you check over my Kangashkan please? She was poisoned on the way here.".

"Certainly." Nurse Joy smiled as she took the Safari Ball out of the girl's hands. "Just let me set the Magnamite up and then I'll sort her out.".

Nurse Joy disappeared and after a few minutes the Pokemon centre lights returned. Serena sighed in relief, the Pokemon at the Centre are going to be safe. Also to her relief, she noticed the street lights and other buildings also had lights return. Serena realised, with the Pokemon centre being close to the centre of town, it also acted as the towns generator. At least she got them to the right place. It was around ten minutes later before Nurse Joy returned with the safari ball in hand and Magneton floating by her side.

"Here's your Kangashkan. She is doing just fine, although needs some rest." Nurse Joy told the young girl.

"Oh, thank you Nurse Joy." Serena thanked. "She was poisoned by a wild Nidoqueen. We had to battle her when one of the Magnamite wondered into her territory, which is also why it evolved.".

"It's okay." Nurse Joy smiled. "Unfortunately, Magneton is too big to fit into the machine meaning we can't run off his electricity. Still, thanks to you we have more than enough power with the other Magnamite to run the town until the engineers gets the power back.".

Serena smiled as she clipped the Safari Ball to her belt. Now that it was all over, Serena was feeling quite proud. She managed to overcome her distaste for Rhyhorn riding and managed to save the Pokemon. It is a really good feeling, in all honesty Serena was worried she was beginning to rely on the others too much. Since competing in the Chateau, all she's really been doing is following Ash around and even Drake has took on Brock's role as the map reader despite her being his student. Even Misty and Drake have been helping with the cooking duties, so it is good to know she is just as useful. Suddenly, Serena's stomach growled in huger.

"Hehehe, sorry." Serena blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it." Nurse Joy smiled. "Come on, I'll have the Chansey's cook something up for you. It's the least we can do since you brought the Magnamite.".

"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Serena thanked. The two females and the Magneton disappeared towards the Cafeteria.

* * *

"Serena!" Ash called out as he burst through the doors of the Pokemon Centre. It is just before noon the day after Serena left and he is worried since he hasn't heard from her since she left. While it makes sense that she wouldn't call as that is wasting time when she could be riding, it does mean he was worried about her.

"Calm down, Ash. I'm right here." Serena told her boyfriend as she walked from around a corner with a bright smile on her face. She walked up to her boyfriend who engulfed her in a hug. This has always been her favourite kind of hug, the kind which Ash initiated. "Where are Togepi and Pikachu?".

"Hehehe, I took off for here as soon as we entered the town. Pikachu didn't fancy running in this heat so he stayed with Drake, Misty and Ethan in the cart." Ash sheepishly replied. "Togepi is asleep in my backpack.".

"Glad to know you missed me." Serena teasingly replied.

"I wouldn't be a good boyfriend if I didn't." Ash whispered in Serena's ear, ending with a peck on the cheek. It sent shivers down Serena's spin but she remained smiling and just snuggled into the hug more. "But what's up with the Magneton?".

"Hiya!" Pikachu called out as he ran through the doors. The couple sighed as the electric mouse jumped onto Ash's shoulder because it meant the moment alone was over. Reluctantly, they broke out of the hug as Misty, Drake and Ethan walked through the door.

"Hey Serena, good to see you." Misty smiled as the two girls had a quick friendly hug.

"It's good to see you too, Misty." Serena replied. Drake just gave her a slight head nod to show he acknowledged her, he isn't the hugging type, especially not his brother's girlfriend. That is one thing he doesn't even want to try and make a reality.

"Well now little missy, I must say ya'lls done some mighty fine riding to get here. Ya'lls definitely a Yvonne." Ethan praised. "Although I too, would like to know where this Magneton came from.".

"Oh, we ran into a bit of trouble with a Nidoqueen and number six evolved." Serena explained nervously as Ash clutched her hand.

"Well now, why don't ya'll catch Number six?" Ethan suggested with a smile.

"What?" Serena questioned. "Are you sure? Why?".

"The machine's used to take the electricity is too small to fit Magneton inside. Plus, number six is a bit of trouble by himself, and otherwise I'd be let'n him into the wild. Plus, he seems to have take'n a like'n to ya's." Ethan explained. "Plus, consider it some thanks for get'n the power back so soon.".

"I, um, thank you Ethan." Serena stuttered before turning to the electric steel type. "Well Magneton, what do you say? Want to come with me?". Magneton did the equivalent of a smile and excitingly floated around Serena's head. The honey-blonde girl took out a spare Pokeball and tap it against the Magnet Pokemon. The Pokeball instantly dinged, showing no resistance was put up. Serena took out her Pokedex and scanned the new Pokemon:

 _Magneton, The Magnet Pokemon. The evolved form of Magnamite. It has about three times the electrical power of Magnemite. For some reason, outbreaks of this Pokémon happen when lots of sunspots appear._

 _Type: Electric / Steel_

 _Ability: Magnet Pull_

 _Hidden Ability: Analytic (Note: This hidden ability is unlocked)._

 _Gender: Genderless_

 _Nature: Naive (Note: This nature could change when Magneton evolves)_

 _Move(s): Tri Attack, Electric Terrain, Tackle, Supersonic, Thunder Shock, Magnet Bomb, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, Sonic Boom, Spark, Mirror Shot, Metal Sound, Electro Ball_

Suddenly, Serena's Pokedex started vibrating and the screen lit up with images of all of Serena's current on hand Pokemon: Beedrill, Kingdra, Eevee, Farfetch'd, Kangashkan, Seel and Magneton.

"Please select which Pokemon you wish to send back." The device requested.

Serena looked at the seven images. While it is a hard decision she narrowed it down to Kingdra and Seel. Nothing against these two but they aren't really in a prime location since they still have this island to cross. In the end, Serena clicked the image of her recently evolved Kingdra since Seel doesn't out right require a body of water. Not a moment later, she felt Kingdra's Pokeball teleport of her belt.

"Thank you, Ethan. I promise to take good care of Magneton." Serena thanked the Magnemite rancher.

"No need to be thanking me, little missy. Magneton is a wild Pokemon and made his own choice to go with ya's." Ethan explained. "And I know ya'll will be a good trainer for number six. Anyone who can handle old Rhyhorn is capable of handling number six.".

"Now Ash, it's your turn." Misty told the raven-haired boy.

"Right, it is finally time for the third Orange League gym." Ash declared with determination. Little did he know, Misty was more excited about more than just his gym battle. It isn't long now until they discover the water type specialist's secret.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	12. Misty's Date

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the start of what I am going to call the Misty arc. It will focus mostly on her, despite it also containing Ash's third gym battle. This chapter will have Ash's challenge for his gym battle but like I said, will mostly focus on Misty and Rudy. Just note, not a lot of amour moments will take place since I am focusing on Misty and Rudy. I would like to apologise because I missed out on replying to a lot of the reviews for last chapter but that is because work has been hectic recently. As such, I have also been given a promotion (of sorts) which means I have less time to write. I AM NOT giving up on either of my series, but updates will be slower. I hope to update JOAPM twice a month and I will work on SIS as and when I can. Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear but I can't help it. Anyway, remember to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 12: Misty's Date_

"You guys come out, guys." Ash called as he released his on-hand team. His team consists of: Pikachu, Pidgeot, Wartortle, Muk, Sandslash and Aerodactyl. "Guys, we are finally here for our third gym battle. Sorry Pikachu and Pidgeot, but since I used you both against Cissy, I want to give these guys a chance.".

The two Pokemon in question nodded in understanding and moved away to start a practise battle. Just because they won't be used in this gym doesn't mean they can become lazy. They both want a chance to battle in the Orange League when it comes around, and that means staying in shape.

"Well, Nurse Joy has contacted the gym leader, so it shouldn't be long until he gets here." Ash told his four Pokemon. "I should warn you, each of the Orange Island gyms aren't like regular gyms. Cissy's gym was about the unity between trainer and Pokemon while Danny's was about teamwork between the Pokemon. I am sure you've heard from Pidgeot and Ivysaur what those gyms were like.".

The four Pokemon nodded in understanding, they know not to expect the typical type of gym battle which they are used to. It doesn't matter in the long run as they are all strong Pokemon and will be ready for whatever type of challenge comes up.

"Well the Trovita gym is meant to focus on overcoming your equivalent... Whatever that is meant to mean." Ash continued. "Drake thinks it means facing Pokemon of your own type, but we can't assume that is the case.".

The four Pokemon also nodded in understanding. While Drake is a smart person by all accounts, he doesn't know everything. They will certainly be ready in case his prediction is the case but also ready for whatever it might be. Ash noticed Serena walk to the door, which told Ash the gym leader just appeared.

"Okay guys, return for now." Ash recalled the four Pokemon. He doesn't want to give away his team to his opponent after all. Seeing their teammates being recalled, Pikachu and Pidgeot also made their way over to Ash. "Sorry for the short time but he's here, Pidgeot return.".

The female bird Pokemon let herself get recalled and Ash clipped her ball onto his belt along with the other four Pokemon. Pikachu climbed up onto his trainer's shoulder and they walked over towards Serena, who greeted him with a quick hug. She also handed Togepi over to him.

"He's here, Ash." Serena warned. "And for some reason Misty disappeared, I'll go and find her.".

"Thanks Serena." Ash thanked, planting a quick kiss on her cheek as he walked into the building. Serena followed but diverted towards the female toilets where she saw the water type specialist head towards.

As soon as he entered the building, he spotted three men near the main entrance of the centre. It didn't take a genius to realise that these are the people from the gym, two of them look around fourteen and dressed in smart tuxedos. Although it was the middle man who stood out, he looked around sixteen maybe seventeen, probably the gym leader since he is the only one old enough out of the three. He has auburn hair, while wearing a smart black shirt with a white over-vest. Ash approached the three men, and Drake stood by his side as he stood in front of them.

"Ash Ketchum." The middle man greeted with a handshake which Ash gladly accepted. "I'm Rudy, the gym leader here on Trovita Island. I must say, I am surprised you took so long. Most challengers come here first since it is one of the few gyms in the Orange League which consists of actual battles.".

"Hehehe, yeah. We just kind of took a random route." Ash nervously scratched the back of his head after the handshake ended. "Still, I would need to face all four gyms eventually so does it really matter which order I face them in.".

"Very good answer Ash." Rudy smiled. "Now about your challenge. Like the other gyms, I have a test which you are required to pass before I accept your challenge.".

"Right, so what is it?" Ash asked in excitement.

"Well, due to the time we will only be able to have you take part in the challenge today." Rudy explained. "I also understand you have friends that travel with you, unfortunately, they won't be able to watch your challenge.".

"Why not?" Drake asked, speaking for the first time. Instead of a direct response, Rudy clicked his fingers and one of the two males next to him handed Ash two items which looked a little old compared to the smartly dressed males. "A bow and some arrows?".

"The challenge is simple really, we take a boat ride but unfortunately the boat is only able to hold two people." Rudy explained as he answered Drake's original question. "Targets will appear as we move throughout the course. Ash, you're going to need to shoot the targets with the arrows. There are ten targets in total.".

"One, two, three, four..." Drake muttered as he counted the arrows in the quiver. "And there's ten arrows... Obviously, once you've shot an arrow it won't be re-usable.".

"So, I have to make the round perfect without missing a single shot?" Ash questioned.

Instead of answering the challengers question, he simply smirked in Ash's direction. It is a reasonable assumption and one that everyone who challenges this gym makes. Rudy's eyes darted over the clock on the Pokemon centre wall.

"Well, we should get going. It is nearly impossible to do the test during the night." Rudy informed. Ash released it was getting close to sunset, but he has no-idea about how far the challenge would be.

"Right." Ash replied as he slung the quiver over his shoulder and held the bow in his other hand. With Rudy leading the way, Ash followed. Drake decided to stay behind since he wouldn't be able to watch the challenge anyway.

"Hey Cubone." Drake addressed his ground type. The lonely Pokemon turned towards his trainer. "Wanna play charades? I've just switched Charizard into the team, so you can finally have that rematch.".

In truth, since Ash showed him how playing with Pokemon can lead to bonding and better understanding each other, Drake has played with a lot of his Pokemon in several different games. Jolteon loves tag, Victreebel loves playing pranks but almost all of them enjoy charades, Pinsir being the obvious acceptation since he much prefers training above all else. Cubone and Charizard have also developed a rivalry when it comes to this game, probably because they want to compete to be Drake's ace seeing as one is his starter and the other is his best friend.

"Bone." Cubone smirked happily, he will show that over grown lizard who the king of charades is.

* * *

"Misty!" Serena called out as she walked into the female toilets. It didn't take long to find the water type trainer, as she was leaning over a sink, splashing cold water onto her face with a freaked-out expression. Serena frowned in confusion, the only time she can recall seeing Misty so freaked out was when in a life-threatening situation like with Team Rocket or Mewtwo. What has her so scared right now?

"Oh... Hey, Serena." Misty greeted a little sheepishly. Right, how is she going to explain this? She ran off from the group, possibly putting Ash's challenge back until tomorrow, and now she was found over a sink, splashing water into her face. "How's it going?".

"I think I should be asking you that." Serena replied as she approached the orange-hair girl. She placed a comforting hand on the older girl's shoulder. "What has you so freaked out? I know your birthday is tomorrow, is it something to do with that?".

"No..." Misty replied rather quietly.

"I think the gym matched it scheduled tomorrow because of the time today but we could always see if we could postpone it." Serena suggested.

"Thanks Serena, but that is really not the problem. It would be nice to see the gym battle actually..." Misty ended with a soft sigh which escaped her lips. Serena just looked confused until she remembered the night Misty and Leaf stayed over at her house before leaving for the Orange Islands. Misty mentioned a boy who just so happened to be interested in her as well as a gym leader. From what Drake told them, the Trovita gym leader is the only other male gym leader so...

"Is it about that boy you're interested in?" Serena asked with a sly smile. "The gym leader.".

"Um... Yeah, he is the gym leader of Trovita." Misty admitted not bothering to put up a fight. "I-I thought I was ready to face him again but...".

"It's okay Misty, I couldn't count the number of times I was scared to face Ash before we got together." Serena admitted. "I was sure I would do something to embarrass myself or give away my feelings or something.".

"Yeah... I guess I'm scared in case he doesn't remember me, and I look like some sort of weirdo who..." Misty muttered while looking at the ground. Serena smiled sympathetically at one of her best friends and placed a comforting handing on her shoulder.

"Misty... If he made this much of an impact on you from a couple of meetings, then I am sure he would remember you." Serena reassured.

"Thanks Serena, it's just I haven't really liked someone like I like Rudy." Misty admitted.

"It's okay, Misty. I was the same when it came to Ash, which is why I wasn't happy when everyone told me to just confess." Serena explained. "But in the end, confessing was the best thing to do, whilst also being the hardest.".

"So, you want me to confess to him?" Misty asked. "Wouldn't that be a bit pushy? I mean, you had years of friendship to base your relationship on. We had two meetings.".

"Okay, well I was more so thinking that you do the thing that you think is hardest." Serena replied. "I mean you need to face him, otherwise you'd not only miss Ash's gym challenge but also miss your chance to see him again, regardless of the result.".

Misty looked at one of her best friends with a small smile. Despite being a couple of years older than her, she has to admit that Serena is more knowledgeable about relationship stuff. Probably because she has experienced it since being with Ash. Despite the rough start and their unfortunate meeting circumstances, Misty is truly happy that she met both Ash and Serena. They are like the younger siblings she never had. They might fight from time to time but

"... Thanks Serena." Misty smiled and gave the honey-blonde girl a friendly hug.

After the quick embrace ended, the two girls walked back into the Pokemon Centre's front room. Neither Ash or the boys from the gym could be spotted. They did, however, see Drake walking towards the back battlefield with his Cubone. Knowing he would have the answers, the two girls ran up to him

"Drake!" Serena called out as they approached the oldest of the twins. Drake stopped in his tracks and turned towards his two travelling companions. The two girls stop in front of him. "Where is Ash and the others?".

"Left to get Ash's test over with. Because of what the test is, we wouldn't be able to watch anyway so they left." Drake answered. "Don't worry, they wouldn't have time left in today to get to the actual battle, so we get to watch that tomorrow.".

Serena nodded in understanding, while she would've loved to watch Ash's gym test, she can't help it if it isn't practically possible. It was the same in the Navel gym, she had to wait at the top of the mountain while Ash climbed it. Still, at least this gives her some time to help Misty. Nodding in understanding to Drake, the raven-hair boy continued towards the battlefield. The girls saw him release his team of Pokemon and assumed he was going to do training with them.

"Come on, Misty." Serena told the water type trainer as she started to walk back to their rented room.

"Where are we going, Serena?" Misty asked.

"We have some time before your reunion, so we can put it to good use." Serena explained with an excited smile. "By the time I'm finished, Rudy will have his socks knocked off.". Misty saw the excited girl quickly disappear up the stairs.

It is pretty obvious that she is planning to give Misty a makeover of some kind and while Serena knows more about fashion than anyone else she knows, Misty isn't the girly-girly type and she only had one thought as she reluctantly followed the honey-blonde girl. " _Oh Arceus, help me_.".

* * *

Ash and Rudy are currently inside a two-person boat. Rudy is sat at the back while Ash is stood in the centre with an arrow positioned on the bow ready to fire, although Ash is clearly nervous. This is the first time he has tried any sort of archery.

"Like I said Ash, there are ten targets and ten arrows. Don't worry about steering the boat, it is on a set course, so we won't stray off course, but you will need to keep an eye out on all directions because the targets can appear anywhere at any time." Rudy informed. "I know your Pikachu tends to stay out of its Pokeball.".

"How did you know that?" Ash asked.

"I did my research; all the Orange League gym leaders research the challengers beforehand." Rudy explained. "It means we can make any adaptions for challengers that might will show up... You've already faced both Cissy's and Danny's gym, both are physically based. In the case the challenger is physically unable to do what they require then they have back up plans so no-one is banned from the league. Still, that doesn't mean the acceptations are any easier.".

"I guess that makes sense, I mean I couldn't see someone who is unable to walk be able to do Cissy's or Danny's challenges." Ash replied. "So, what should Pikachu do? Pikachu hates going into his Pokeball and Togepi doesn't even have one.".

"They are allowed to stay out but must sit with me at the back." Rudy explained. "They aren't allowed to help you, and doing so would render this challenge a fail, likewise, they mustn't hit the target themselves and neither are any of your other Pokemon. This is your challenge, naturally.".

"Gotcha." Ash replied as Pikachu jumped onto the seat next to Rudy. Ash placed Togepi next to his Uncle Pikachu. "Take care of Togepi, okay Buddy.".

"Sure." Pikachu replied before Togepi gave his Uncle Pikachu the biggest hug he could. Pikachu sweat dropped but reluctantly returned the gesture. Rudy smiled at the two Pokemon, just their interactions shows that Ash is a worthy challenger to the Orange League. It is one reason why he loves this job.

"Let me know when you're ready, and I'll start the boat." Rudy informed. "Be warned, once the challenge has started it won't stop until we reach the end of the course.".

"Okay..." Ash replied as he took a deep breath and stood up. Staring out to the front of the boat, he tightened his grip around the bow. "I think I'm ready.".

Rudy smiled and turned the engine on at the back. Starting off slowly the boat started sailing down the stream. At the minute there are large cliffs on either side of them. The challenge is taking place at the coast of Trovita but unlike the side of the island they arrived on, this side has large rock formations standing out of the water. Honestly, having them on all side is a little daunting.

After about half a minute of travelling down the steam, Ash noticed a small hill was coming up. It wasn't a full formed waterfall but would definitely speed them up but right now he needs to focus. Around five meters from the water, a target sprung up from a cliff side. Holding the bow up, Ash pulled back on the string and aimed it best he could. Letting the Arrow go, it flew through the air before striking the target. It wasn't dead on but the otter most ring. Still...

"I-I did it!" Ash cheered.

"I wouldn't get too excited." Rudy informed as they started going that small hill. Small bits of water splashed Ash and the change in speed caused Ash to fall on his behind. After a few moments the boat returned to a normal speed. "That was only the first, and by far the easiest target to hit.".

"... Right." Ash groaned as he stood back up.

Not a moment later, a target shot out of the water and began to ascend in the air. Acting quickly Ash loaded another arrow and pulled back. Not having the time to properly aim, he let the arrow go before he missed his chance completely. The arrow was on a set path to collide, but it wasn't enough. The target began to fall back into the water as the arrow sailed where it once was. It was hard to judge if the arrow would've hit if the target was still there, but it wasn't.

Ash gasped as the arrow hit the cliff side and also skipped into the water. Only on the second target did he fail. So much for his Orange League challenge. Sure, the boat is still going but that's because they are on a set course. So, he will need to see exactly what he would've had to of done... That's it, Drake is always speaking about researching and planning. Maybe he should continue like he still has a chance to better remember the course layout for when he ultimately re-challenges the test. There are no rules about the amount of time it takes a challenger to par-take in these trials just the deadline of the Orange League itself.

Not a moment later, the third target appeared floating in the water but this one was moving around the same speed as the boat. Taking aim with his third arrow, he aimed it up with a little more time.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a split path and both the boat and target are heading towards different directions. With time running out, Ash let the arrow fly. It struck the very edge of the target and bounced off into the water. Neither Ash or Pikachu was quite sure about whether that would've counted or not.

"Keep focused." Rudy instructed as the boat sped up some more.

As Ash became more adjust to the speed he noticed the ends of the cliff side was coming up. At the very edge of the cliffs, two targets appeared about ten meters above the water but on either side of the cliff sides. Ash took out one arrow and lined it up, he knew he couldn't waste time and let the arrow fly. Quickly taking out the next arrow he wasn't able to see if it hit but in the long run it doesn't really matter. Lining up the second shot, Ash was in even more of a rush and let this arrow fly before properly lined up. Flying over the targets top, it plopped into the water as well. Ash sighed but faced forward for the next target.

"Don't give up until it's over." Ash muttered under his breath to himself.

Hearing the swooshing sound which accompanied Ash looked around in a panick as he couldn't see the target appear in front of him. He remembered what Rudy said beforehand about keeping an eye out in all directions. As he turned around to the cliff side they just left from, he saw the target disappearing on said cliff side. Ash quickly took out another arrow and fired it. It struck the cliff side, no-where near the target.

As Ash turned back to the front of the boat, Ash tightened his grip around the bow. Sure, the other challenges were difficult but this one is ridiculous. What does archery have to do with Pokemon at all? So far, he has only hit one target, the easiest one and they are over half way through the challenge. Sure, he isn't going to win because of this fact but as the course goes on it has only gotten harder. Would he even have enough time to practise to rematch this challenge before the league begun? Ash's thoughts were quickly interrupted as the boat rocked and Ash fell over once again.

"This side of the island has a lot of whirl pools appears." Rudy informed. "I wouldn't recommend swimming in the water as even the strongest swimmers of water types would have difficulty overcoming them.".

Ash stood back up and nodded his head to understand that he heard the gym leader. Turning back to the front of the boat, two targets shot out of the water on either side of the boat, just like how the second target appeared. Ash quickly took out the arrow and tried to shoot one of the targets. Not waiting to see if it hit, Ash turned towards the second target but only had time to load the next arrow before the target splashed back into the water.

The eighth and ninth targets appeared much like how the third target appeared by floating in the water. However, they were stuck in a whirlpool being sucked down towards the centre. Just seeing them flying around show the natures natural power, making both Ash and Pikachu happy they aren't in the targets position... Togepi, on the other hand can't help but think that going in that giant swirly bath looks like a lot of fun and would love to play in it. Too bad he doesn't have his floaty ring to right now.

Ash took out another arrow and aimed it at the target which was closest to the centre since that one would disappear first. Once he had it lined up, to the best of his ability, he let the arrow fly. Surprisingly, it hit a target, but it was the one that was slightly behind the first. Either that was incredibly lucky, or Ash might have a natural talent for archery buried somewhere inside.

Quickly taking out another arrow and loading it up, Ash didn't have time to properly aim as the target was practically at the centre of the whirlpool. Letting it fly, the target disappeared less than a second later. That didn't matter, however, as the arrow shot clean across the whirlpool and wasn't even close to where the target was... Yeah, that natural talent is buried DEEP within him if it exists.

"We're coming towards the end." Rudy informed.

Ash frowned at that, had he miss counted? He could've sworn he has only seen nine targets and he has one arrow left. He has only used one arrow on each target, even though he has only hit two of them. Where did he miss the last target?

To Ash's Surprise, a target appeared sprung up at the front of the boat. As soon as it registered, Ash heard the engine which sounded like it was about to stop, as well as the dock they were coming up towards. Taking the last arrow out, he jumped at the last target and stuck it in the centre of the target. Not a moment later they were stopped at the dock.

Picking Togepi back up with a sad smile, Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder. While the raven-hair boy did that, Rudy climbed onto the dock where the boys from before were waiting. They also helped Ash onto solid ground.

"Rudy... Thank you for the chance to take part in the challenge and I plan on training." Ash informed. "I hope when I am ready, you'll allow me to retake this test.".

"Now why would you need to retake the test?" Rudy asked with a neutral expression.

"I only hit two targets, maybe three if you count that last one." Ash replied. "But I didn't use the bow.".

"Right, but when did I ever say you had to hit all ten targets?" Rudy asked.

"What!?" Ash questioned. "But, you said...".

"I said, there was ten targets. You counted ten arrows and assumed you needed a perfect run." Rudy cut the boy off. "The true challenge is to find a challenger who doesn't give up, regardless of the situation. In battle, you never know the outcome until the ref's final call and no trainer should give up until that point... Unless safety is at risk, of course.".

"So..." Ash wanted to ask.

"You continued with the challenge, even after missing a target. You didn't give up, and thus you have passed the test." Rudy informed with a smile. "We can have our battle tomorrow. And it will take place on top of one of those cliffs out of the water.".

Ash was ecstatic and looked at where Rudy told him where the battle would take place. It looks dangerous but after what Danny said about having Pokemon ready in case of a dangerous situation, he is ready.

"The way the battle will work will be three, one on one matches." Rudy explained. "You need to tell me which elements you plan on using and I will match them. Plus, they can only partake in that one battle and you must win all three rounds to win the badge.".

"I get it..." Ash replied before thinking for a moment. He will have to win all three battles and he won't be able to substitute at all. While he loves Muk, he probably isn't best at fighting on a cliff side, so he will go with his other three options currently on hand. "I will use a Flying type, a ground type and a water type.".

"Very good, I will collect you from the centre tomorrow for the battle." Rudy informed. "I also understand that you have friends who would want to watch the match, and as you could probably guess, there isn't a lot of room on top of the cliffs. They can watch from a hot air balloon, but we need some numbers, so we can prepare the right number for your friends.".

"I get it, well there's Serena, Drake and Misty." Ash explained but he failed to notice Rudy's eye shoot open at the last name. "But Drake also has Cubone who stays out of his Pokeball and I was going to ask Serena to hold Togepi as well.".

"They should all fit into one balloon, so that should be fine." Rudy explained before turning towards the other boys. "Can you two prepare everything for tomorrow while I show Ash back to the Pokemon Centre.".

Seeing nothing wrong in the request, the boys agreed and took the archery equipment from Ash. The boys disappeared to get both the hot air balloon ready, as well as the Pokemon of the three elements Ash mentioned. Rudy started to lead Ash back to the centre, even if it is a coincidence he has to know if it is the same women he met in Kanto last year.

"By the way Rudy, why did you say the first target was the easiest?" Ash asked. "I would've thought the last one would've been the easiest.".

"Because nearly every challenger hits that first one." Rudy informed. "The last one takes everyone by surprise and by the time they react, the boat has stopped, and the challenge is over.".

Pikachu fell off Ash's shoulder in disbelief at that reasoning.

* * *

Ash, Rudy, Pikachu and Togepi walked through the doors of the centre. It was fairly empty to be honest. Ash guessed his twin was outside because he could make out Cubone but from the vantage point it was hard to see what he was doing... Probably training. Obviously, Nurse Joy was stood behind her desk and she even had Chansey with her which means there isn't any sort of emergency. Finally, Ash's eyes landed on Serena who was sat at a table for four. Ash would've guessed Misty was with her, otherwise she would have likely had her Pokemon out but due to the vantage point he again couldn't see the seat directly next to her.

The honey-blonde girl turned to face the doors when the boys entered and smiled once she saw her boyfriend with the gym leader. She turned to the seat next to her and seemed to say something, confirming she wasn't alone. A couple of seconds later, Serena stood up and walked towards her boyfriend. Misty soon followed.

Ash smiled at his girlfriend but looked confused when he saw the water type trainer. Instead of her regular attire of a yellow tank top and blue shorts, she had a puffy yellow jacket on and yellow puffy shorts. Ash is fairly certain he has never seen Misty with these cloths but that doesn't really matter.

Serena greeted Ash with a hug and quickly pulled him over to the table where she was sat with Misty. While she would love to know how things turn out with one of her best friends in this situation, she knows Misty would both appreciate and needs some privacy for their reunion. Ash didn't have much choice or time to speak before he found himself sat at the table with Serena sat next to him.

Rudy and Misty were now looking at each other. Rudy had a look of shock on his face, never did he imagine that the girl he met in Kanto would show up along with one of his orange league challengers. Misty had a look of embarrassment as she looked at the ground while shyly shuffling her feet around the ground. Having Rudy look at her like this is a little embarrassing. Soon one of them had to break the silence.

"Misty.".

"Rudy.".

The two people spoke out the same time. Realising this, both went quite again while each holding their own blushes. Rudy was the quickest to recover, replacing his blush with a charming smile.

"It's... Great to see you again, Misty." Rudy took her hand. Misty's blush seemed to intensify but she was no-longer looking at the ground but at the boy in front of her. He is a couple of years older than her, but it isn't a massive age gap. "I have been counting the days since we last met.".

"Hehehe, really?" Misty asked with a light chuckle. Sure, the line sounds cheesy and being more of a tomboy, Misty would likely roll her eyes if she was to see this situation from a different perspective but actually hearing that makes her heart flutter slightly.

"I've, um, missed you too." Misty stuttered shyly.

Sensing Misty's embarrassment, Rudy lightened his smile and squeezed her hand to offer some sort of comfort. This seemed to have the required effect as Misty visibly relaxed. Looking around, he realised the middle of the Pokemon centre is not the idea place to catch up, so he took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Misty, would you do me the honour and join me for dinner tonight?" Rudy asked. "Sorry but I don't have anything planned but I would happily cook you something and I know Mahri would love to see you again.".

"I would love to join you." Misty replied with a light light-hearted smile. All her nerves have seemed to have washed away by this point and the blush which previously took up most of her face has nearly completely disappeared.

"Shall we?" Rudy asked as he held his arm out. Misty took the cue and looped her arm around his before resting her hand in his. Taking the lead, Rudy began to walk back to his home with Misty by his side. Once out of the centre, the two started to catch up on everything since they last met.

"I think I've missed something..." Ash stated lamely as he watched the water type trainer walk away. His face showed he was both confused and bewildered about what just happened.

Serena saw he confused boyfriend and giggled cutely. While have the romantic talk and compliments are definitely appealing, she wouldn't change Ash for anything, he has his own way to compliment her and she finds his cluelessness really cute. She leaned over and planted a kiss on Ash's cheek.

"Don't worry about it, Ash." Serena spoke calmly as she ended the small show of affection. "Now, don't you have a gym match to prepare for?".

"Right." Ash replied excited. He planted a quick peck on her cheek before jumping up from his seat. Pikachu was on his shoulder, also eager to get back to that mock battle with Pidgeot while Togepi was... Asleep. That boat ride really took a lot out of him. "Catch you later, Serena.".

Serena smiled as her boyfriend raced out of the centre towards the back battlefield. She really loves his endless end of energy and happy nature. Sighing happily, she stood up and took a Pokeball off her belt, the one containing her latest team member, Magneton. She still has to properly introduce the electric / steel type to her other Pokemon and her team could also use some training. She also needs to learn how Magneton is in battle. With her plans for the night set, she followed Ash towards the back battlefield.

* * *

"... Thank you, Rudy." Misty thanked whole-heartily. They have just finished the meal Rudy cooked for them, and Misty even got to reunite with Mahri. The young girl was clearly happy to see Misty again and wasted no-time in embarrassing the couple, but it was all in a good nature. "Everything was delicious.".

"It was my pleasure, Misty." Rudy replied with a charming smile. "I am glad you enjoyed it.". In all honesty, Rudy isn't anything like one would think. The way he dresses shows that he has a fancy and possible rich background, but he isn't snobby. He is really nice and takes his job as a gym leader seriously. He is also very caring and responsible, you just need look at how he cares for Mahri to see that. In short, to Misty he is the total package.

"See, my brother is the best!" Mahri exclaimed. "He would make a great husband, wouldn't he Misty?". Misty turned bright red at that comment. Marriage!? She may be fourteen tomorrow, but she is way too young to even think about that. Why Mahri is even bring the subject up?

Likewise, Rudy was also speechless at his sisters mention of him as a husband. Where does she come up with this stuff? Quickly regaining his composure, he piled up the empty plates off the table and carried them over to the dish washer while speaking to his sister.

"Mahri, why don't you go off and play for a bit. Let Misty and I speak for a bit." Rudy suggested.

Mahri wasn't happy about being sent away like this, she clearly doesn't understand how uncomfortable the subject she brought up makes the couple feel. Still, she knows the tone of his voice and knows it isn't just a suggestion.

"Okay..." Mahri sighed sadly. "Can I go swimming with Seel, please?".

Even though she is too young to have a Pokemon of her own, she met Seel when he washed up on the beach. Not being used to the hot climate showed, as he was very ill for quite a long time. Taking on the responsibility for him, Mahri did everything she could to make him better, of course she needed help because of her age but Rudy was impressed by his sister's actions. When it came time for Seel to leave, neither Seel or Mahri wanted him to, so Rudy caught the water type. Despite this, he promised his sister and Seel that Mahri will become Seel's official trainer when she is old enough. Both Mahri and Seel were happy as this was the best case they could've asked for.

"No Mahri, you know you can't go swimming by your." Rudy explained. "Misty is our guest and the other trainers are preparing for tomorrows gym challenge.".

"But I am getting older now, in just over a year I'll be able to go on my own journey and Nurse Joy said Seel is close to evolving, at his last check up." Mahri protested but to no avail.

"The answer is still no, Mahri." Rudy repeated more forceful. "You know it is at night that the whirlpools become unpredictable and more powerful. You could easily get pulled into one of them.".

"...Fine." Mahri mumbled as she slumped out of her seat, sulking as she left the room.

Misty looked at Mahri with a sad glaze. She knows what it's like to have an older sibling have authority over you but the difference here is, Rudy is being a good brother. Misty only got Staryu because it hatched from an egg in the gym not long before she left on her journey and as the gym leaders at the time, her sisters had the responsibility to provide starter Pokemon to new trainers in Cerulean. Of course, she loves Starmie and wouldn't trade it for anything but the relationship between Mahri and Seel is a lot like how Misty and Tentacool use to be but because Tentacool could battle, her sisters wouldn't let Misty start with her.

Rudy sighed as he took his seat back at the table. He hates having to be forceful with Mahri, but he doesn't have a choice sometimes. He is only trying to be a good brother and keep Mahri safe but that isn't always an easy job.

"Sorry about that Misty..." Rudy apologised.

"Oh, don't be. You are just being a good brother." Misty reassured. Unfortunately, Misty's own little annoyance appeared. One of her Pokeballs wiggled before Psyduck appeared on the table. He stared blankly at Rudy while holding his head.

"Psy aye aye." The water type muttered.

"Oh, Psyduck..." Misty muttered in embarrassment as she started searching through her bag. She soon found the Pokeball she was looking for and got ready to return the water type before he could embarrass her any more, but Rudy stopped her before she could.

"Wow Misty, your Psyduck looks really strong." Rudy commented as he examined Psyduck. He has raised a Golduck before and knows just by looks that this one has some great potential. "I bet he has some great psychic.".

"Oh, um..." Misty replied, being caught off guard. Yes, Psyduck has shown to have some great psychic powers but he only uses them when he gets a headache... At least one which is worse than normal.

"Tell me, Misty. Does your Psyduck know the move Calm Mind?" Rudy asked.

"Er, no. He never learnt that move." Misty answered quietly. Why couldn't it have been one of her stronger Pokemon which could've impressed Rudy, maybe: Starmie, Seaking, Tentacruel, Vaporeon... Hell, even Kingler would've been better.

Rudy nodded in understanding as he stood up and went to a draw. Taking out a disc, Misty gasped at what it was. A TM. Rudy carried over to the water type and placed it against Psyduck forehead. TM's work by being place next to the brain and passing knowledge of how to use the move to the Pokemon. Obviously, with enough training the Pokemon could learn the move naturally but this is the quicker way of doing it.

After half a minute, Rudy removed the disc off Psyduck and placed it back in the draw. Psyduck turned back to Misty with his usual blank expression. Misty was nervous, did the TM just fail to work on her Psyduck? After his other dumb stuff, she wouldn't be surprise.

"Duck." Psyduck finally spoke as he let out a small smile. It wasn't even his typical goofy look. While to most people it would look like Psyduck had the same expression, Misty looked deep into the water types eyes and noticed he wasn't quite a clueless as he once was.

"A lot of Pokemon with strong Psychic abilities tend to have trouble controlling them, especially when not psychic type itself." Rudy explained. "Calm Mind is a move which helps the Pokemon sort of the psychic energy and gives it better control over them.".

"Psy-duck." Psyduck nodded in agreement before turning to Rudy. He bowed a thanks out, those headaches were the worst but now he has clear thoughts and isn't always in pain. This is a good man. Not wanting to intrude in his trainers date any longer, he returned himself to his Pokeball.

"Wow, thank you Rudy." Misty replied, not quite sure what else she could say. "I don't know how I could make it up to you.". TM's are very expensive, which is why so many trainers just teach moves through hard training.

"Don't worry about it. Why don't we call this your birthday present for tomorrow since I haven't been able to get something ready." Rudy replied with a charming smile. "Now, why don't I introduce you to my Pokemon.".

"That would be lovely, Rudy." Misty smiled gratefully. This is turning into one of the best times she has had in a while.

* * *

Stood on the beach with a Seel at her side was Mahri. She had changed into her swimming costume and collected her best friend from his Pokeball. Of course, it would've been harder if she had the gym trainers to deal with, but they were making sure the three Pokemon Rudy would use in tomorrow's match were ready, as well as the field they would be battling on.

"Seel?" The water type questioned. He knew the rules and he knew Rudy would never allow Mahri to go swimming this late at night, especially since no-body was here to watch her. He knows that he shouldn't be allowing her to do this, but he isn't strong enough to stop her. He also doesn't want to leave her, so he can help in case the worst happens.

"Don't worry Seel. We'll have a lot of fun in the water, and we won't even go out that far." Mahri reassured before taking her first step into the water. Since there have been many challengers recently, she hasn't had much time to play or go swimming, so this is a nice change.

Seel sighed as Mahri was now deep enough where she couldn't effectively touch the ground. He hates that she is doing this because he has seen the danger from the whirlpools first hand. Seel followed the young girl into the water, at least he will be able to help in case something goes wrong.

"See, isn't this fun?" Mahri asked rhetorically. "We are so far from the whirlpools that we don't need to worry, so what do you want to play?".

While not happy about the situation, Seel has to admit that it is nice to go swimming again. It is much nicer to swim at night rather than in the day when the sun is out, since he evolves into an ice type he isn't built for the heat. After thinking about what sort of things they could play, Seel made his mind up. Splashing some water at Mahri, he dived under the water before she could retaliate.

Mahri sputtered for a moment before whipping the water off her face and laughing. So that's what Seel wants to play, huh? She took a deep breath before diving into the water after Seel. She couldn't see anything until she felt something hit her back. Turning around she found Seel who waved a fin at her. Mahri smiled and returned the gesture before re-emerging for another breath of air.

Seel emerged next to his best friend as she took in a deep breath. Both failed to notice that they were slowly floating further away from the shore. Seel grew worried when it saw a mischievous grin on Mahri's face but before it could question it, he was splashed in the face by a large amount of water.

"That's what you get for splashing me first, Seel." Mahri laughed happily. She happily grabbed Seel's fins and started twirl around in the water like they were dancing together. This has been a lot of fun, and she doesn't need the adults to stay safe in the water. She isn't anywhere near the whirlpools

Unfortunately, the whirlpools aren't the only danger in the water. Along with the whirlpools are strong currents created by them. One of these currents was right beneath where Mahri was heading towards. In a split second, she was dragged under the water.

In a frantic panick, Mahri tried her best to fight against the current. It was a useless endeavour however as she isn't strong enough to fight. As the current dragged her around, she took an opportunity where her head went above water. She took a deep breath before being pulled back under. She was really starting to regret her decision to go swimming. Why didn't she listen to her brother?

* * *

"Here we are." Rudy announced as he showed off his group of Pokemon.

Electabuzz, Scyther, Pidgeot, Rhydon, Exeggutor, Poliwrath, Starmie, Arcanine, Magmar, Vileplume, Jynx, Hypno, Alakazam, Dodrio, Farfetch'd, Persian and many more made up the ranks of the Pokemon. In all honesty, he has probably the same amount as Ash, Serena and Drake if you put all their teams together. Even more surprising was, they were dancing.

"So, do all your Pokemon dance?" Misty asked.

"No, not all of them." Rudy answered. "I was given dancing lessons as a child and not only does it keep you in good shape, but it also helps in battle, but certain Pokemon of mine either don't like it or are built for it.". It makes sense, Misty could only imagine what Ash's Sandslash would do if Ash suggested they dance.

"Well, they certainly seem to be enjoying it." Misty smiled. Although she noticed not all of them were dancing but more so practising moves like Pidgeot and Poliwrath among others.

"Yes, many of them really do enjoy dancing." Rudy smiled before holding his hand out. "So, with that being said, shall we dance?".

Misty accepted Rudy's hand and the couple began to slow dance around the room. Despite the music not being a slow song, Rudy lead the dance perfectly and Misty was really having a great time. The dance continued until the song ended. As Rudy let go off her hand he turned towards the door.

"Sorry Misty, but I need make sure that Mahri is getting ready for bed." Rudy apologised.

"Oh no, its fine." Misty reassured.

Rudy flashed her a grateful smile before running out of the room. He hates that this has happened, but meeting Misty was completely unexpected, he wasn't able to plan a proper night out, or get someone to babysit. He also had to get ready for his challenger tomorrow, so it isn't the perfect date like he would've liked to of had.

As for Misty, she was immensely enjoying herself. She couldn't believe she was scared about reuniting because tonight couldn't be any better. Sure, they might not be completely compatible, since she has a fear of bugs, yet he has both a Venomoth and Scyther, but he truly does make her happy. Besides, all of Rudy's Pokemon didn't seems to mind her and they are all friendly, even the bug types. Part of Misty wondered if she should let her Pokemon out. Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance since Rudy came running back into the room.

"Mahri isn't in her room. I can't find her or Seel anywhere!" Rudy exclaimed in a panick.

"What!" Misty exclaimed while all the Pokemon stood to attention knowing the seriousness of the situation.

"We need to look for her, all of you." Rudy told his Pokemon who nodded and set off on their own search. The flying types took to the sky to see if they can spot her, while the water types looked into the water just in case. The others also went searching best they could. "Sorry Misty but I-I can't continue the date. Not until I know Mahri is safe.".

"It's fine Rudy, we best get looking." Misty replied before running to start her own search.

Rudy was surprised Misty was completely fine with the turn of events. Not so much about the date ending but the fact that she isn't making a fuss over it and is even searching for Mahri as well. Rudy too joined her and after a few moments he spotted something which made his heart stop.

"Rudy? What is it?" Misty asked as her worry grew with each second.

"The ocean..." Rudy gasped and bolted outside. The door which lead to the beach had been left open. He knows he hasn't been out and the Pokemon never use that door. There is only one explanation...

* * *

Making it to the beach, both Misty and Rudy spotted Seel looking beaten up and lying on the sand. Rushing over to the water type it is clear that these injuries were not inflicted by another Pokemon but the currents which surround the island and go hand in hand with the whirlpools.

"Seel!" Rudy exclaimed. "Where is Mahri!?".

"Seeel..." The Sea Lion Pokemon muttered as he pointed out into the ocean.

Rudy gritted his teeth, his baby sister is in the waters, being pulled down by the currents since they can't spot her that is the only explanation and he is powerless, his Pokemon could be anywhere on the island. As he prepared to jump into the water himself, he was beaten to the punch.

"Go, Starmie, Seaking, Kingler and Vaporeon!" Misty shouted as she released her four best swimmers on hand. She wishes she had Tentacruel right now but that doesn't matter, what matters is saving Mahri. Jumping into the water, she clung onto Starmie's back as they started to swim out.

"Misty!" Rudy called out, but Misty wasn't deterred.

The group continued to swim out. Soon Seaking was being washed away but once she got her barrings, she swam back to the group. Realising this was the current which would've washed Mahri away, the group dived under water.

Misty struggled to stay on Starmie's back, but she held on for dear life. Forcing her eyes open she looked for the little girl best she could. She looked around but the lack of light and salt water in her eyes proved to make the task very difficult. Lucky, her Pokemon didn't have the same issue. Starmie was focused on keeping Misty safe while the other three looked around.

Kingler was the first to see something, being the one of the water types to actually live in the ocean for a long period of his life, his eyes were adjusted best to the current conditions. Starmie was hatched at the gym, while Vaporeon lived in the lake where Misty caught her, Seaking, like Vaporeon, also lived in a lake where Misty caught her (just not the same one, obviously).

Following Kingler's direction the Pokemon started to swim in that direction. Starmie, Seaking and Vaporeon soon noticed what Kingler found, a small girl with her eyes closed slowly sinking in the water with her mouth open. Even though none of them have seen Mahri before, it is obvious she is the one they are looking for. Seaking and Vaporeon took the initiative and swam ahead. The two Pokemon were soon hit by a current but braved through it.

Being the smaller of the two, Vaporeon got ahead of Seaking and caught Mahri before she could sink any further. Getting underneath the girl, Vaporeon started to slowly swim upwards but she isn't built for this sort of thing. Soon, Seaking reached them and took the girl on her back. Being the physically stronger of the two, Seaking had a much easier time moving Mahri, while Vaporeon stayed behind in case she fell off.

With the current coming up, Kingler jumped into action and loaded up a Crab hammer. Slamming it into the current, he brought his fellow team mates enough time to swim through where the current once was. Unfortunately, the barrier didn't last long and Kingler was hit by the full force of the current. Misty reacted fast and recalled her water type. Luckily, Seaking and Vaporeon were able to get through the current thanks to Kingler, without any trouble.

The group of four Pokemon and two humans burst up from the surface, Misty took a deep breath as soon as she could as the Pokemon started to swim back to the shore. Once close enough, Misty jumped off Starmie's back and grabbed Mahri off Seaking's back. She hastily carried the girl back to the beach and lay her down. Rudy saw his sister and gasped, unable to speak.

Misty was finally able to notice Mahri's stated. The young girl was unconscious and not breathing. Not wasting anytime, Misty began to preform CPR on her. This is in no way the best situation to perform the first aid, especially since she just went a long period of time without any solid breath.

Rudy felt tears sting his eyes as Misty continued to fight to bring back his sister. He only turned his back for a second and this happened. Not only that, but he is completely helpless as Misty attempts to revive her with CPR.

" _No Mahri, don't give up yet_." Misty cried in her head as she continued first aid. Tears were covering her eyes and she was being too seriously tire from the combination of preforming CPR for a number of minutes at this point and the energy lost to retrieve her in the first place.

More time passed and still Mahri was showing no signs of recovery. Misty was becoming seriously tired and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this procedure up. Before long the demanding movements and limited oxygen would take its toll on her.

"No Mahri. Please, not like this." Rudy sobbed as the little hope he was holding onto began to disappear. "Don't leave me like this.".

Misty prepared to start another round of compressed pushes on the young girl's chest, being careful not to do it too hard. Tears were blocking all of her vision by this point. While yes, Mahri did embarrass her, it wasn't in a mean way but just like a little sister.

As Misty finished this round of pushes as she fell back feeling light-headed. She tried to get back into the right position not wanting to give up, not yes. Mahri is too young to die. It seemed like luck was on their side as the young girl started to cough, bring up a large amount of sea water.

"Mahri..." Rudy sighed in relief as he attempted to dry his eyes. Misty was quick despite her tired state and she put the young girl in the recovery position. The young girl continued to cough up salt water but her eyes fluttered open. As the coughing came to an end, she sat up on the sand. Rudy fell on his knees and engulfed his sister a whole-hearted hug. Misty fell back as her tiredness took over, she also whipped her eyes with her hands as the scene unfolded in front of her.

"Rudy..." Mahri spoke weakly, not able to return the hug to her brother. "I-I'm sorry that I didn't listen... I promise not to go out in the sea by myself again.".

"It's... It's okay, Mahri. All that matters is that you are safe." Rudy replied. Not sure how long he had hugged his sister for, he realised they couldn't stay there all night. Ending the embrace, he stood up, drying his eyes in the process. He helped his sister stand once done. Despite being a little wobbly on her legs, she was able to find her balance. "Go back into the house... I, need to speak with Misty for a moment.".

Not questioning her brother, Mahri slowly walked back towards the house with Seel by her side. Rudy was watching until they entered the house, at which point he turned to Misty (who recovered somewhat from her tiredness) and helped her stand.

"Thank you, Misty. I-I don't know what I would've done if you weren't here and if I..." Rudy couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"It's okay, Rudy. I just did what anyone wou..." Misty tried to reassured but was cut off. Rudy had planted his lips on top of her. Misty's eyes widened as she received her first kiss but once the shock had past, her eyes closed, and she leaned in to return the gesture best she could. After who knows how long, the couple parted.

"Misty, I..." Rudy tried to think of the best way to word his next statement. "When I met you in Kanto, I thought you was a nice girl who I like and definitely interested in... When I was told you was possibly here, I was excited... I've never felt this way for another person before. I wasn't sure though, but tonight show me that you have a special place in my heart and after what you did for Mahri, I know I will never feel like this for anybody else... Misty... I love you.".

Misty turned bright red at Rudy's statement. She knows she definitely likes Rudy, and aside from Mahri's near death experience, she has enjoyed this date, but love is a strong word, and can't she be sure if that word best describes her feelings.

"Look Misty, I know this is selfish but... I would love for you to come here and live with us on Trovita." Rudy proposed. "I know you have your family gym back in Kanto, and when the time comes I would happily follow you there... But after tonight, I can't lose you...".

Misty looked at Rudy's eyes as the words sank in. She definitely has feelings for him and she would love to say yes, but could she? Sure, she would miss her friends, but they would have to go their separate way at some point... What could possibly be stopping her from accepting this dream offer?

"It's okay, Misty. I know this is a big decision." Rudy continued. "I... Need to spend some time with Mahri, tonight and I can't expect you to have an answer right now... How about you give me the answer after the gym match tomorrow.".

"O-kay..." Misty coughed out.

Rudy smiled and planted one more delicate kiss on Misty's lips but this one was swift. Bidding her a goodbye and goodnight, he took off for the house. Returning her own Pokemon, Misty set off back towards the Pokemon Centre. With her mind flooded of different thoughts about Rudy's offer... Should she accept it?

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	13. Ash VS Rudy: Dilemma

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, Ash's first Orange League gym battle and Misty's decision. Even though this is a gym battle, it is going to focus on Misty more so than Ash, think back to how the Veilstone gym focused heavily on Dawn from the anime. Speaking off, I hope you like the way I handled Misty and her 'Dilemma' works nicely. The match type is the same as the anime, with the Pokemon of the same type matching off, but I have swapped a couple of the Pokemon used. Anyway, remember to vote in the poll (it changes with the next chapter, and I honestly feel like it's been the same for way too long) and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 13: Ash VS Rudy: Dilemma_

The sun pierced through the window of the girl's bedroom in the Pokemon centre, the light shone into Misty's eyes, but she was already awake. She hasn't had much sleep at all since leaving Rudy and making it back to the Pokemon centre. Her mind has been focussing on one thing.

Rudy's offer...

Does she want to stay here on Trovita island. Rudy said he would move to Cerulean when it was time for her to take over the gym, so that wouldn't affect her decision but, is she really ready to make that sort of commitment?

She is still very young and has a lot to learn. She may have started travelling with Ash and Serena because of her bike but she has grown fond of them, like younger siblings she never had. Plus, the fact that she has watched all of Ash's gym battles has given her a lot of first hand experience for being a gym leader. Sure, she would get to watch Rudy's gym matched but the Orange league gyms don't get as many challengers and work very differently to the gyms in other regions.

Still... She really likes Rudy, he is the first boy to treat her like a proper girl and not just some tomboy. He makes her happy and she has no doubt that she would be happy living here. She also likes Mahri, she is like a little sister. Of course, she would've saved anyone in danger like Mahri was last night but the fact that it was the young girl she has grown fond of kept her motivated when she was in the heat of the moment. Can she really leave both of them?

"Morning Mist..." Serena greeted after a yawn. She had just got out of bed, with a yawn. "And Happy Birthday.".

"Morning Serena." Misty replied with a weak smile. Unfortunately, Serena isn't an idiot and could easily see something was bothering the water type trainer. The honey-blonde girl was already asleep when Misty got back so she hasn't had a chance to tell her or anyone about Rudy's offer. "... and Thanks.".

"What's wrong Misty?" Serena asked as she got out of her bed and sat next to the orange-hair girl. Misty didn't turn to look at her best friend and stared out of the window. It was a beautiful sight, and honestly Misty could get use to this view if she decided to stay but this isn't the only nice location she has been to on her travels. Serena frowned with the lack of a response. "Come on, you can tell me anything.".

"... Sorry Serena, it's just..." Misty replied without much thought. How can she put it? Does she want to tell Serena? Well, Serena is the only person she is close too who might have an idea about what's going through her head. She is the only girl who is in a relationship, so it can't help her. "... It's just, that Rudy asked if I would stay with him... On Trovita island.".

This immediately caught Serena's attention. The honey-blonde girl looked at the water type specialist with wide eyes. Rudy invited Misty to stay with him? What is Misty's going to do? Will she stop her travels with them? What about the Cerulean gym?

"... Oh." Serena replied without thinking. Realising this wasn't the best thing to say Serena quickly continued. "So... Have you made your decision?".

"Not yet..." Misty replied as she looked up to the ceiling. "My mind is all over the place. The moment I think I've made a choice, my brain does a U-turn and comes up with hundreds of reasons why that is the wrong choice.".

It is true, Misty's head is just going in circles. For every point to stay, there is another to go. Both sides have positives and negatives but neither side is perfect. If she commits to one she would be losing out whether it be with the boy who stole her heart or her friends. How is she supposed to choose?

"Serena..." Misty looked towards the honey-blonde girl. Serena looked at the desperate look in Misty eyes and indicated she was listening. Misty took a deep breath before continuing. "... I know a while back, you weren't sure about what would happen if Ash finished the Indigo League and you still hadn't conquered the Battle Chateau... Even though everything turned out alright, what would've you two done to if it didn't?".

Serena nodded in understanding, she guessed Misty would ask something like that. Back at the time, she wasn't sure what would happen since Farfetch'd had sabotaged her Cinnebar chateau challenge and she only had one chance to challenge the owners before the Indigo League.

"Well... I honestly don't know." Serena answered after a moment of silence. "I know Ash would've waited around for me, maybe even challenged the Indigo League again but I would hate to think it was my dream which was stopping him from continuing his. Of course, he got invited to take on the Orange League, and I probably would've been focused on re-matching the owners instead of contests right now but... I just don't know.".

While Serena would love to say they could be apart, Ash setting off for another region and she re-joins him in another region once she conquered the chateau but being apart like that isn't something she wants to experience. Not to mention it would affect not only Ash and Serena but also their Pokemon.

"... Besides, I can't imagine Eevee and Pikachu or Delphox and Charizard would be happy about being apart." Serena continued.

Misty's eyes shot open as she realised that was something she hasn't even considered. This wouldn't only affect her but her Pokemon too. If she is going to have a chance at making this sort of decision, then they need to

"Thanks Serena, you're the best!" Misty exclaimed as she jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom with clean pair of clothes. Once she was dressed, Misty rushed to leave.

"Where are you going Misty, and what about your birthday?" Serena asked.

"Sorry Serena, but I think this is more important." Misty hastily replied. "Tell Ash I will be at his gym battle.".

* * *

After quickly getting dressed into her regular travelling clothes, Misty threw her bag onto her back and ran out of the Pokemon centre. She didn't stop for breakfast or to say morning to Ash and Drake.

She wasn't sure what made her go to her next location, it was the same spot where she performed CPR on Mahri last night. She knew Rudy wouldn't see her, the gym battle wouldn't be too far off now, and being by the ocean just feels like the right place. After a deep breath, she threw the six Pokeballs up into the air.

"Misty call... Everyone." Misty released her current on-hand team of: Starmie, Seaking, Kingler, Psyduck, Vaporeon and Poliwag.

Of course, she would love to have Tentacruel's and Shelder's opinions as well, but it isn't possible in the small-time frame. Besides, Shelder is so mischievous he likely would just make a joke out of the situation and Misty knows Tentacruel better than any of her other Pokemon arguably, so she knows what she would Tentacruel would want. Misty moved over towards the water so Seaking was also involved.

"Um guys... I, need to tell you something." Misty started talking. All her Pokemon, Psyduck included, looked towards her clearly focused on what she has to say. It was a little weird to see the Duck Pokemon so... Aware, of what is happening, but Misty pushed that to the back of her mind. "As you know, yesterday Rudy asked if I would stay here... Which means you would as well. My head has been going in circles trying to decide, and I realised I need some help.".

"Va Vaporeon." Vaporeon was the first to reply, seeing her trainers distress. She nuzzled her head into Misty's hand to try and comfort her trainer. Despite being an avid battle lover and strong Pokemon, Vaporeon also has an affectionate side and only wants what's best for Misty. "Eon.. Vaporeon.".

"Thanks, Vaporeon." Misty smiled as she rubbed the water type eeveelutions head. She may not understand a Pokemon's native tongue like Ash, but she knows her own Pokemon well enough to get what they are saying and Vaporeon says she only wants what's best for her and will support her no-matter what.

"Duck, Psyduck. Duck." Psyduck added his own thoughts which brought a smile to Misty's face.

"You're only saying that because he taught you Calm Mind." Misty smiled at the Duck Pokemon. She was happy that he was no-longer the derpy duck she caught and could actually give some proper opinions. Well, that is one of her Pokemon for staying. Despite Psyduck's reason, she will still consider it. Although, Misty did wonder if Ash could now understand what Psyduck is saying. Regardless of her decision, they will need to test that beforehand.

Starmie was the next to respond as it made several swift movements with multiple of its points in a battling motion. Of course, Rudy said he would move to Cerulean when it is time for Misty to take over the gym but that isn't the main issue for the water psychic type.

"Starmie, I am sure we will keep getting in some good training and battles even if we stay but I'll keep it in mind." Misty reassured. Still, she has to accept Starmie's point of view, Starmie wants to keep travelling, training and getting ready for when they take over the gym and Misty will accept that response. Misty also knows Tentacruel would share that point of view but then again, Tentacruel isn't too fond of new people and it would be a while before she likes Rudy or Mahri.

"Kokeee Kokeee." Kingler added his thoughts with a jolly smile.

"Thank you, Kingler." Misty smiled at the water type. While he is also a jolly-go-happy Pokemon, he is also what many would call a 'hopeless romantic', of course he wants Misty to stay with Rudy after the perfect setting last night (minus the almost dead little girl) it would be a crime against the heart for her to leave.

"King, Seaking. King." Seaking spoke up as Poliwag happily jumped into Misty's arms. Misty smiled at the two pure water types, as both make a good point. Poliwag is just like Vaporeon, offering her support regardless of Misty's choice but in a way she is also strengthening Seaking's argument.

With all of her Pokemon's views made clear to her, Misty returned her team. With the current time she has to leave now if she wants to make it to Ash's gym battle, while her Pokemon have all made very good points, they are all varied and that doesn't make her decision any easier. While she hasn't made her decision, what Seaking brought up just threw a massive wrench into the already confusing mess.

* * *

"Where did you say Misty was?" Ash asked his girlfriend as they walked down the path towards his third Orange League gym battle. Drake was also walking with them, and they left the centre after a quick breakfast. As usual Ash wants to get to his battle as soon as possible.

"She left not long after we got up." Serena replied as she rested her head on his shoulder. "She said Rudy invited her to stay on Trovita with him, we talked for a bit then she left. I think she wanted to speak with her Pokemon about it.".

"Whoa..." Ash replied absentmindedly. "I didn't realise those two were so close already.".

"But won't that affect her position in the Cerulean gym?" Drake asked.

"I am sure Misty has already considered that." Serena replied. "This is a massive decision, so I am sure she will think about all that stuff.".

"I just hope she makes it for my gym battle." Ash mumbled. The revelation of Rudy's invitation just hit Ash hard, he was not expecting that to come from their date last night. He doesn't have a problem with Misty getting a boyfriend, but she is like his older sister... He would hate for her to leave.

"Don't worry about that Ash, I wouldn't miss your gym battle." Misty appeared behind the group.

"Hi Misty." Ash greeted. "Happy birthday.

"Hey." Drake added.

"Have you made a decision yet, Misty?" Serena asked.

"No, not yet. I am hoping to come up with my answer during the gym battle." Misty answered honestly.

The group nodded in understanding and continued on towards the site for Ash's third gym battle. Misty was lagging a little behind and not much talking was done by anyone. Ash and Serena want Misty to be happy but would hate for her to leave. Drake just felt a little out of his comfort zone, he isn't the best with emotional stuff like this, sure he is bonding with his Pokemon better, but humans are more complicated anyway. Misty... Well, her mind was still going around in circles.

* * *

Ash and Rudy are stood on top of a rock which is stuck out of the water. It is very high up in the air and the normal size of a battlefield. The ref is on the back of a Pidgeot, because of the type of battlefield, it is likely that Pidgeot is used to keep the ref safe. Meanwhile, Serena, Drake, Misty, Togepi (who is being held by Serena) and Cubone are in a hot air balloon with the second boy from yesterday (the first acting as the ref).

"This gym battle between Rudy, the gym leader and Ash, the challenger will consist of three one on one battles." The ref declared. "Each Pokemon in a battle must share one type, with the pre-decided ones being, flying, ground and water. For the challenger to earn the badge, he must be victorious in all three rounds.".

"Well Ash, I have been looking forward to this battle." Rudy admitted as he held the Pokeball. "So, let's start with the flying match, and I'll choose Pidgeot!". In a flash of light, the normal flying type appeared in front of Rudy.

Rudy's Pidgeot was a similar size to Ash's, which suggest they are around the same age, although this one is male unlike Ash's. He is also stood tall like a soldier waiting for instructions, whereas Ash's almost always starts off by getting into the air.

"Then I choose you, Aerodactyl!" Ash shouted as he released his rock flying type. Upon appearing on the field, Aerodactyl let out a loud battle cry which caused a glint to appear in Pidgeot's eye. He is looking forward to battling the clearly experienced Pokemon.

Rudy inwardly smirked, well Ash has proven to be cleaver, using the type match up rules to give himself the advantage with Aerodactyl also being part rock type. He has also seen some of Aerodactyl's previous league battles and he is looking forward to a tough opponent.

"Pidgeot VS Aerodactyl... Begin!" The ref declared.

* * *

 _Ash VS Rudy: (Flying types)_

"Into the air, Pidgeot." Rudy instructed with a flick of the hand.

Kicking off the ground, Pidgeot soared into the air with incredible speed. The Pidgeot is clearly bigger than Ash's and was possibly faster but due to both of them being able to use moves like Quick Attack, it is nearly impossible to be sure who is faster.

"After him, Aerodactyl!" Ash called out.

Aerodactyl gave a few powerful flaps of his wings and followed after the normal flying type. Unfortunately, despite being a fast flying type himself, Aerodactyl was lagging behind. Ash was confused by this as Aerodactyl has always been quicker than his own Pidgeot. Obviously, Rudy's Pidgeot must be more experienced than his own because of the bigger size but how can it be this much faster without using any special moves like Quick Attack.

A strong wind blew down, and that seemed to slow Aerodactyl down even more. Ash realised what it was that was happening. It was a move which his Pidgeot loved to use which always gave her a speed advantage, but Rudy didn't say to use that move. If his Pokemon are so well trained that they know what to do without being told then this will be that much hard. Chances are, all orange League gym leaders are like this in battle, but Rudy is the first one Ash is facing in an actual battle.

" _Tailwind_!" Ash mentally gasped as he realised what was happening. "Careful Aerodactyl, he is using Tailwind, so he will be a lot faster than normal.".

The fossil Pokemon nodded in understanding as he narrowed his eyes onto his opponent. So, what if this bird was faster, he has decades of experience over this guy and he won't fall for the cheap speed tricks he is using.

"Steel Wing." Rudy instructed.

As Pidgeot glided across the winds, he coated his wings in metal. Turning towards the rock flying type, he sped up to a watchable speed. Ash went to call out to use Ancient Power as a shield, but was too slow. Pidgeot struck Aerodactyl hard with his metal wing. Aerodactyl was hit hard and began to fall due to being knocked off course but was able to save himself before hitting the ground. Ash saw Pidgeot turning around for another speedy Steel Wing.

"Watch out, Aerodactyl. He's coming back!" Ash shouted.

Aerodactyl cracked his next and turned back towards the incoming Pidgeot. Sure, seeing Pidgeot isn't the easiest of things to see but he has thought against countless faster opponents in the past. Bracing himself for the impact, he soon found Pidgeot striking him. Acting on instinct, he clenched his claws into Pidgeot's shoulders while using his body to take the blow. Using his wings, he was able to force the pair to do a loop in the air before they started to fly towards the ground

Using his superior physical strength, Aerodactyl took control and turned the dive bomb into a Sky Drop attack. Seconds before crashing into the ground, Aerodactyl threw Pidgeot down. The normal flying type crashed. A small amount of wind blew up from the impact which was caught in Aerodactyl's wings, sending him into the air. Aerodactyl began circling around the downed normal flying, letting out a victorious roar.

"Well done, not too many Pokemon can use my Pidgeot's speed against him." Rudy praised as Pidgeot forced himself back to his feet. "But it is a little early for a celebration, isn't it?".

"Aerodactyl, the battle isn't over yet." Ash informed. "Make things hard for Pidgeot with Rock Slide.".

The fossil Pokemon roared as several holes appeared in the sky, a land slide of different rocks began to fall all over the field with Aerodactyl safe above them. Pidgeot kicked off into the air, and with a skilful display of aerobatics, dodged each rock that came towards him. Soon Pidgeot was flying above the Rock Slide, facing off against Aerodactyl. The Rock Slide came to an end as the two flying types faced off in the air.

"Iron Head!" Ash shouted out.

Aerodactyl roared as his head was coated in metal. Flapping his wings, he took off towards Pidgeot. He wasn't going at his fastest thanks to the Tailwind which was still active. Aerodactyl are some of the fastest flying types when not counting speed moves like Quick Attack but Tailwind isn't allowing Aerodactyl to show that.

"Mirror Move." Rudy instructed.

Pidgeot let out his own battle squawk as his own head was coated in metal. Shooting off at a faster speed, Pidgeot was able to slightly dive under Aerodactyl and struck the Iron head on Aerodactyl's body. The fossil growled out in pain as his attack was cancelled and Pidgeot shot away. The normal flying type turned around for a repeat attack, but Ash was expecting this, despite Rudy not giving instructions, his Pidgeot tends to repeat his last attack pattern.

"Use Ancient power, but as a shield!" Ash shouted.

Aerodactyl nodded in understanding, this is one thing he is thankful that he joined Ash for. Back before he was turned into a fossil, he would use an all-out attack which while is a capable strategy, using moves for defence has also proven to be very useful.

Several rocks appeared around Aerodactyl as Pidgeot came in for another Iron Head, but the normal flying type was going considerably slower. Looks like the Tailwind wore off. Ash knew he had to act fast and end the battle while Aerodactyl has the speed advantage. Pidgeot used his metal coated head and smashed through the first few rocks.

"Grab him and use Thunder Fang!" Ash shouted.

Using his superior physical strength, Aerodactyl grabbed a hold of Pidgeot and opened his mouth as his teeth were coated in electricity. Biting down hard on Pidgeot's shoulder, the normal flying type cried out in pain as the iron head was cancelled. Aerodactyl ended the Thunder Fang and threw Pidgeot into the battlefield.

"Pidgeot, use Roost." Rudy instructed.

As Pidgeot plummeted towards the ground, lights began to appear around the normal flying type. Sure, he may have crashed but the roost was starting to take effect, and starting to undo all of Aerodactyl's hard work. In a panick, Ash knew he had to end this battle quickly.

"Giga Impact!" Ash shouted.

With a loud roar, Aerodactyl did a loop in the air as a barrier of power surrounded him. Entering a dive bomb, he shot down like a meteorite. Landing directly on top of Pidgeot who was far from fully recovered, an explosion engulfed both flying types, with smoke blocking the outcome.

Everyone held their breath as they waited to see the outcome of the results. As the smoke cleared, one shadow could be seen standing over their opponent's body which was out cold. The victor was soon made clear with a loud victory roar, as the ref made the call.

"Pidgeot is unable to battle, the first round goes to the challenger Ash and his Aerodactyl." The ref declared.

* * *

"Awesome Aerodactyl, well done!" Ash cheered his rock flying type on his victory. The Fossil Pokemon smirked at the praise but gave the raven-hair boy a thumbs up, it may seem a little weird considering he is a literal dinosaur, but he has really grown fond of the little kid he calls his trainer. Ash held up a Pokeball "Now take a nice long rest.". The red light engulfed Aerodactyl and he was recalled.

Drake looked down at the field with a smile, even though it wasn't that long ago he can see clear improvement with Ash's battling. Aerodactyl is obviously one of Ash's strongest and most experienced Pokemon so it makes sense that he would do well and know how to react in certain situations. The next two battles will be the true test to see how Ash has improved... Now that he thinks about it, Ash has been helping him a lot with bonding, but he hasn't been passing on his knowledge, part of the reason they are travelling together is to teach each other. Ash has been teaching him, but Drake is yet to return the gesture, that needs to change.

"Return, old friend. And well done." Rudy recalled his fallen normal flying type. An Alakazam appeared on the battlefield and began to use psychic to clear the battlefield back to its original state before the first match began. "Well done, Ash. It takes a lot of strength and skill to out manoeuvre my Pidgeot. Even with the type advantage.".

"Thanks Rudy, but Aerodactyl deserves the credit." Ash replied. Rudy smiled at his challenger, true partnership between trainer and Pokemon, these are the type of trainers that belong in the Orange League. "But can I ask what Alakazam is doing?".

"He is returning the battlefield back to its natural state." Rudy smiled. "It means the battles are truly one on one and the previous battles can't effect the later ones.".

It was true, a lot of trainers have tried to win the latter battles by setting things like Stealth Rocks or Spikes in the first battle. Of course, that is a good strategy, but it takes away from the purpose of the battles being one on one, which requires the challenger to truly be in sync with not one but all their Pokemon.

"But now it is time for the battle of our ground types." Rudy continued as he held a different Pokeball. "Which means I'll use, Rhydon.". The Drill Pokemon appeared on the battlefield which looked knew thanks to Alakazam with a fierce expression. Ash pulled out his Pokedex and scanned his new opponent:

 _Rhydon, The Drill Pokemon. The evolved form of Rhyhorn. Rhydon has a horn that serves as a drill. It is used for destroying rocks and boulders. This Pokémon occasionally rams into streams of magma, but the armor-like hide prevents it from feeling the heat._

 _Type: Ground/Rock_

Ash held his next Pokeball in his hand and looked at it with a mixture of emotions. He is trusting Sandslash in this battle, and while he has no doubt he is strong enough to handle Rhydon, he also remembers what happened when Serena used Farfetch'd back at the Cinnebar Chateau. Both of them have had issues with having a trainer, and Ash feels responsible because he encouraged Serena to trust Farfetch'd back then.

No, unlike that time Ash knows Sandslash means what he said that night. While Sandslash still refuses to interact with the other Pokemon, he has really been listening to Ash and even had a few conversations. Plus, Farfetch'd was arrogant back then. The only thing Ash gets from Sandslash is tiredness. Tired of the hand he's been given, tired of fighting everyone and thing he meets... Tired of hating. Now is the perfect time for these two to test how they work together.

"I choose you, Sandslash!" Ash shouted.

The aggressive ground type landed on the ground and looked at his opponent. Narrowing his eyes, hissing in a low and threatening tone, he slashed his claws together before entering a battle stance. He told the boy he was willing to give him a chance, he isn't going to let down his end of the deal.

Rudy quirked his eye-bowl up with intrigue. At the start of any new league season, the leaders are told about the challengers beforehand, so they can prepare. Like with the other six trainers, Rudy did his research on Ash and saw the battle where Ash used Sandslash in the Indigo League... Needless to say, this will be interesting.

Misty was looking down at the battlefield, but her mind was thinking back to her dilemma. She likes Rudy, and he likes her. He is the first boy to show some real interest in her and not just class her of a tempered tomboy. She also really likes Mahri, and despite the short time together, she has started to see the young girl as a surrogate little sister. So, with all of that, what is stopping her from jumping at Rudy's proposal?

"Rhydon VS Sandslash... Begin!" The ref declared.

* * *

 _Ash VS Rudy: (Ground type)_

"Metal Claw!" Ash shouted as soon as the battle started.

Sandslash smirked as his claws became coated in metal. He slammed one into the ground before running at the Drill Pokemon. Looks like Ash really has gotten to know him, in battle, he is aggressive, and Ash is allowing him to do battle like that. The boy really is trying to get to know him, maybe he is trust-worthy.

"Hammer Arm." Rudy countered with a flick of the hand.

Rhydon lifted up his arm, which glew white. Sandslash was showing no-signs of slowing down as he reached the Drill Pokemon. Blasting his claw out of the ground, Sandslash used it as an upper cut. Ash knew he had to act fast as Rhydon went in for the fighting type move.

"Defence Curl!" Ash shouted.

Upon hearing his trainers voice, Sandslash inwardly sighed but curled up into a ball as his defence rose. Of course, he knew about the incoming Hammer Arm, but he is aggressive in his battle style, he has no problem taking a hit, as long as he can dish out as much damage as possible in that time. Sandslash was knocked towards the edge of the cliff thanks to the Hammer Arm, although he barely felt the fighting type move.

"Rollout!" Ash panicked.

Rudy said before the battle started that while he has a Pokemon ready to save any battler who might end up in the water, it counts as an automatic loss. Skidding across the ground, Sandslash gained control of his curled-up body before flying off the edge. The defence curl seemed to power up the rock type move as the mouse Pokemon rolled towards Rhydon at a decent speed. Sandslash crashed into Rhydon once before rolling away and turning around to go back, but the blow didn't seem to do anything to the drill Pokemon.

"Ice Beam." Rudy instructed.

While Rollout isn't going to do much at the moment, Sandslash has shown to be a strong Pokemon and letting that move build up in power isn't going to help win this battle. Rhydon opened his mouth with a large roar, as a beam of ice came out. Instead of hitting Sandslash head on, it seemed to hit only the field which was soon covered in ice. Ash gasped as that took away Sandslash's control of the Rollout.

"Quick Sandslash, use Crush Claw to stop!" Ash shouted in a panick.

Bursting out of the curled-up position, Sandslash was still skidding towards the edge. Rhydon hasn't moved from his starting position since the battle began so he isn't affected by the ice field. Slamming his claw into the ground, easily smashing through the ice, Sandslash began to slow down before coming to a complete stop at the edge of the field. Ash smirked when he realised Sandslash was directly behind Rhydon, who couldn't move without also falling victim to the ice field.

"Poison Sting!" Ash hollered.

Sandslash has few long-ranged attacks and moving across the ice field would be difficult for Sandslash to do. Sandslash quickly fired a barrage of poisonous nettles out of his mouth. Due to the attack being so fast, it hit Rhydon before either trainer or Pokemon could react. Luck seemed to be on Ash's side, while the attack didn't seem to cause much damage to Rhydon, soon the Drill Pokemon's body turned a light shade of purple... He had been poisoned.

"Iron Tail!" Rudy shouted as he clenched his fist.

In all honesty, that could cause him a major problem if this match goes on too long. Rhydon has always been about waiting out his opponents, he even has an Eviolite to make both his defences higher for that purpose but that poison just put a time limit on this battle. Rhydon's tail was coated in metal and lifted to block the poison type move. Sandslash stopped his attack with a smirk, all he has to do now is wait.

"Stomp!" Rudy shouted.

Time for him to go on the offensive. Rhydon lifted his foot into the air, before slamming it down on the icy field surrounding him. The icy field smashed under his weight, with the cracks expanding out over the whole field. Before either Ash or Sandslash had time to react, Sandslash lost the little balance he had on the ice, falling off the cliff backwards.

"Sandslash!" Ash shouted as he looked over the edge.

Ash sighed in relief at what he saw, Sandslash was hanging on the side of the cliff with his claws stuck in the wall. The main issue was getting back up, no doubt Rudy wouldn't make it easy and risking that could cause Sandslash to fall into the water. Acting on his own accord, Sandslash started to climb back towards the battlefield, looking very angry.

" _I really wouldn't want to be Rhydon right now_." Ash thought to himself as he rubbed the first scar he received from the ground type, over his jacket.

"Load up a Rock Blast, for when Sandslash appears." Rudy instructed.

Ash doesn't blame Sandslash for not wanting to wait around on the side of the cliff, as that is probably very tiring. Still, going that way would leave him as a sitting duck and despite the ground types remarkable strength, chances of being able to climb the cliff twice in a row aren't high.

"Sandslash, use dig and go into the cliff!" Ash shouted.

Sandslash smirked at that idea. He was so focused on getting to the top and dealing some much-deserved pain, that he never even thought of that idea. Happy with what he was told, Sandslash dug into the cliff side, safe from falling.

Rudy clenched his fist as Rhydon took some more poison damage, no-longer ready to fire a Rock Blast. Rhydon is trained well enough to know that once a plan won't work, to not continue it. Of course, Rhydon knows Earthquake but being where they are, using that move would likely destroy the entire platform and send all of them into the water. Not to mention, a Strong Enough Earthquake would create a Tsunami which wouldn't be good for anyone.

Sandslash burst out of the ground right beneath, Rhydon's face and went high into the air. That caused some serious damage to the Drill Pokemon, and Ash winced when he saw the glint in Sandslash's eye. Last time he saw it, he ended up with another scar and it is easy to know what the ground type is planning.

"You probably shouldn't have made Sandslash angry... You won't like Sandslash when he's angry." Ash informed as he looked at the ground type who was gaining a lot of height. Ash knew what the ground type wants to do, but he isn't doing it. Yep, Sandslash really is giving him a chance. With a small smile he gave the mouse Pokemon a nodded of approval.

Powering up a Metal Claw, his claws were coated in metal. Sandslash adjusted his body as he started to fall, speeding up his decent as he slammed into Rhydon's back, claw first. Landing on the Drill's Pokemon back, he began to unleash a furry of Metal Claws. Rhydon cried out in pain but wasn't able to stop the ground type.

"Use your tail, Rhydon!" Rudy shouted.

Sandslash's assault didn't slow down in the slightest. Rhydon lifted up his tail and attempted to use it to knock the mouse Pokemon away, unfortunately Sandslash was too quick and easily avoided it before continuing his brutal assault. Rhydon took more poison damage, meaning he was too tired to attempt stop Sandslash again.

The ground type continued his assault until he was certain the Drill Pokemon would fall. Delivering a Crush Claw onto Rhydon's head, Sandslash used it too leap into the air. He landed on the cracked ice, on a knee with one claw slight stuck in the ground. Rudy only saw a glint in the ground types eye, before his Drill Pokemon fell forward with swirls in his eyes. Sandslash loves to battle, but he hates it when almost being thrown to his death. That was Rhydon's mistake.

"Rhydon is unable to battle, the second round goes to the challenger Ash and his Sandslash." The ref declared.

* * *

"Thank you, Sandslash. Well done." Ash smiled at the ground type. Not only did they win the battle but Sandslash proved that he is willing to truly give Ash the chance to help him overcome his trust issues. Of course, it is a long and difficult journey before the ground type will truly open up, but it is a good start.

"Return, old friend. And well done." Rudy recalled his fallen ground rock type. Alakazam appeared on the battlefield and began to use psychic to clear the battlefield back to its original state before the match began. "Well done, Ash. I have done my research and it is clear you have come along away with your Sandslash.".

"Thanks Rudy, but we still have a long way to go. Right Sandslash?" Ash replied as he looked to the ground type with a wide smile. The ground type hissed something with a roll of the eyes. Ash sweat dropped formed on the back of Ash's head as he held up Sandslash's Pokeball. "Alright, return and take a nice long rest.".

Drake had a slight smile on his face, Ash really has come a long way with Sandslash in a short amount of time. They all knew Sandslash was physically strong so his winning the battle isn't too surprising, but the real victory came from the fact that Sandslash listened to Ash and pulled off all his instructions. Of course, Sandslash has his own preferred battle style but that is the same with all Pokemon.

Once Alakazam was finished and the field was back to its original state, Rudy grabbed his next and final Pokeball. Looks like the reset of the field isn't only for Rudy's benefit since that ice field could cause some major damage to Ash's last Pokemon if used right.

"Now it is time for a battle of our water types." Rudy told the raven-hair boy. "Which means it's your turn, Starmie.". Ash knows he has seen Misty's Starmie multiple times but decided to scan it with his Pokedex anyway:

 _Starmie, The Mysterious Pokemon. The final evolved form of Staryu. Starmie swims through water by spinning its star-shaped body as if it were a propeller on a ship. The core at the centre of this Pokémon's body glows in seven colours. Type: Water / Psychic_

"Then I choose you, Wartortle!" Ash shouted as he threw his final Pokeball. In a flash of light, the water type appeared on the battle field with a confident smirk, wasting no time, Wartortle pulled his pair of sunglasses out of his shell. Ash sighed and caught the sight of Togepi in the balloon. He too was wearing a pair of sunglasses, but these ones were round ones like the rest of the Squirtle squad... Wartortle is a bad influence on the Spike ball Pokemon.

Misty continued to look over the field, one would think this would be her kind of battle since it is two water types and she could possibly learn a few things from how Rudy handles his Starmie since she has one of her own. However, she is still thinking about Rudy's proposal. It should be a simple yes, she likes him, and he likes her, of course she would miss her friends, but they could keep in touch. So, what is stopping her from accepting the offer? Her friends?...

"Starmie VS Wartortle... Begin!" The ref declared.

* * *

 _Ash VS Rudy: (Water Type)_

"We shall start this round." Rudy spoke up. "Starmie, use Confuse Ray.".

Starmie tensed up as its middle gem started to glow. A ball of yellow light shot out of the Mysterious Pokemon's centre and is floated towards the turtle Pokemon, in a ghostly manner. Ash knew he couldn't let it hit or a confused Wartortle could walk off the edge and end the battle like that.

"Use Gyro Ball, to dodge!" Ash shouted.

Wartortle withdrew into his shell and began to spin with a light grey outline appearing. Skilfully skidding across the ground, he avoided the Confuse Ray which imploded into nothing. Wartortle changed his course and struck Starmie head on. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do anything to the water psychic type.

"Hydro Pump." Rudy instructed with a flick of the hand.

Starmie leaped into the air as Wartortle exited from his shell and stood in his started position. Starmie started spinning and a powerful blast of water shot out of Starmie's centre gem. It was clearly powerful and was too big for Wartortle to avoid but Ash was mostly confused, Rudy should know a water type move wouldn't do much to Wartortle. As the Hydro Pump ended, Wartortle still stood tall looking no worse than before but he was dripping wet.

"Skull Bash and get close." Ash instructed Wartortle with a confident smirk.

Wartortle started running as Starmie fell back onto the battlefield. Once he built up enough momentum, Wartortle jumped and was flying towards Starmie with power radiating around him. As soon as Starmie touched the ground, Wartortle hit it head on with a lot of force.

"Now use Bite!" Ash hollered.

Instead of retreating back like he would normally do after a powerful attack, Wartortle opened his mouth. The power surrounding the turtle Pokemon disappeared as he chomped down hard on Starmie. It caused some serious damage due to the type advantage and the power boost from his black glasses. Unfortunately, Ash walked right into Rudy's trap and that would cost him dearly.

"Thunderbolt." Rudy instructed with a flick of the hand.

Sparks appeared around Starmie and neither Ash or Wartortle had time to react. Soon a massive amount of electricity surrounded the two water types. Rudy knew the previous Hydro Pump wouldn't do much damage but by soaking Wartortle through, it is causing the Thunderbolt to cause that much more damage.

"Wartortle!" Ash shouted.

Wartortle was unable to keep his Bite attack up and let go as he cried out in pain. Starmie kept the Thunderbolt up and gave it another powerful push. The attack shot the Turtle Pokemon high into the air. When Starmie ended the attack, Wartortle fell on his stomach, in front of Ash.

"Come on, Wartortle. Please!" Ash pleaded. "You have to get up.".

Wartortle lay motionless on the field as he heard Ash's pleads. Ash, the boy who showed him that not all people are bad and the one who got him to this level of power. He maybe a cocky arrogant turtle but deep down, he has really grown to care for the boy. Ash has done so much for him in there time together, and here he is, failing when he needs him. Even the mole with anger issues won his battle and yet he is just lying around.

"Wartortle is..." The ref started to make his call, but was cut off when Wartortle started to glow white.

No! He maybe a jokester and prankster but he also likes to repay an owed debt. he owes Ash so much and he isn't going to let him down now. As he became set on winning this battle, on repaying his debt to Ash. The glowing stopped and in Wartortle's place was Blastoise, he just evolved. Pushing himself up from the ground, the newly evolved water type took off his glasses and narrowed his at the water psychic type. He has already decided, he _will_ win this battle. Ash used his Pokedex:

 _Blastoise, The Shellfish Pokemon. The final evolved form of Squirtle. Blastoise has water spouts that protrude from its shell. The water spouts are very accurate. They can shoot bullets of water with enough accuracy to strike empty cans from a distance of over 160 feet._

 _Type: Water_

 _Ability: Torrent_

 _Hidden Ability: Rain Dish (Note: This hidden ability is unlocked)._

 _Gender: Male_

 _Nature: Naughty (Note: This nature is unlikely to change due to Blastoise being a final evolved form)._

 _Move(s): Flash Cannon, Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Water Pulse, Withdraw, Bubble, Bite, Rapid Spin, Protect, Water Pulse, Aqua Tail, Skull Bash, Iron Defence, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Brick Break, Scald, Gyro Ball, Iron Tail_

 _Held Item(s): Black Glasses (Note: This item powers up the holder's dark type moves)._

"Awesome Blastoise!" Ash praised his newly evolved water type.

"Well, things have certainly gotten interesting." Rudy smirked before making his move. "Use Thunderbolt, Starmie.".

Starmie jumped into the air and spun around as sparks flew off its body. A large bolt of electricity shot off Starmie and it flew towards Blastoise. Despite evolving, Ash knew the previous Thunderbolt must've done a lot of damage and Blastoise is still wet from the Hydro Pump.

"Block it with Flash Cannon!" Ash shouted in a panick.

Blastoise grunted as he directed his cannons towards the incoming Thunderbolt. A powerful beam in the colour of silver shot out of one Blastoise Cannons. Ash realised that the power was halved between the two beams. The two Flash Cannons struck the Thunderbolt head on. Neither side had a type or power advantage, meaning the two attacks pushed against each other. Although they seem evenly matched, due to Blastoise being in a weakened state, the Thunderbolt was slowly pushing forward and winning out the power struggle.

"Rapid Spin!" Ash shouted.

Blastoise withdrew into his shell and started spinning. Lucky the last part of the Flash Cannon provided enough. By spinning fast enough, the wind created dried the newly evolved water type. The wind was also strong enough to act as a barrier, blocking the Thunderbolt before it made contact. Ash knew he had to end the battle soon, and since Blastoise was unlikely to overpower Starmie, he knew exactly how to do it.

"Alright Starmie, save your bolts and wait for them to make a move." Rudy instructed.

Starmie stopped the Thunderbolt and landed on the ground in a defensive stance. Ash hid a smirk as he saw the water psychic type stop his attack. Blastoise is going to need to act fast but Ash believes he can do. Much to Rudy's intrigue, Blastoise hadn't stopped spinning and Ash didn't tell him too.

"Get close, Blastoise and use Bite." Ash instructed.

Due to the Rapid Spin still at full mass, Blastoise was able to move a lot quicker and before Ash finished his sentence, the shellfish Pokemon was already in front of the water psychic type. Blastoise quickly stuck his head out of his shell and landed on all fours as he Bite down hard on Starmie.

"Thunderbolt." Rudy smirked.

Only amateurs make the same mistakes twice in a row, and that will cost Ash this match. Starmie seemed to show signs of pain as Blastoise used the dark type move, and stood up. Sparks began to show on the Mysterious Pokemon.

"Throw it!" Ash shouted.

With a swift swing of his head, Blastoise let go of his grip and Starmie started spinning as it flew off the cliff side. A Thunderbolt shot off the water psychic types body but due to its current predicament, was unable to properly aim it. Interestingly, Starmie was moving how it uses Rapid Spin except without the control.

"Starmie!" Rudy shouted, his voice filled with concern but also as if he was going to order a counter-attack. Unfortunately for Rudy, Ash cut him off.

"End it with Flash Cannon!" Ash hollered.

In one quick motion, Blastoise redirected his cannons and fired off two Flash Cannons (one from each cannon). The two beams hit Starmie mid-air and pushed the Mysterious Pokemon away from the battlefield. An explosion occurred and Starmie fell towards the water as its centre gem blinked. A moment before hitting the water, it was surrounded by a psychic attack, curtsy of Alakazam. Starmie was placed on the battlefield as the ref made the call.

"Starmie is unable to battle, the final round goes to the challenger Ash and his Blastoise." The ref declared. "As victor of all three rounds, the winner of this gym battle is Ash.".

* * *

Once both the Pokemon used in the battle were returned and Ash was taken back down to the main island with the others, Rudy stood in front of the raven-hair boy, holding a badge in his hand. This badge was a seashell like the other Orange League badges, but it is shaped like a Triumphant Star Turban with a small pink gemstone on it.

"As proof of your victory at the Trovita gym, I present you with the Spike Shell Badge." Rudy handed the badge to Ash.

"Alright, we won the Spike Shell Badge!" Ash cheered. Pikachu and Togepi joined in along with Blastoise. Aerodactyl and Sandslash were also out of their Pokeballs but didn't join in the celebration. Aerodactyl wore a warm smile like a proud grandfather while Sandslash rolled his eyes in irritation. That is very annoying.

Rudy smiled at the boy who is his challenger, he never minds losing a gym battle because anyone he does lose too is too a worthy trainer, Ash proved that with his bond between his three Pokemon. Blastoise evolved for him, it takes more than a regular trainer to handle an Aerodactyl and from what he saw of Sandslash back in the Indigo League, they have improved a whole lot in a short amount of time. This is the sort of trainer he respects.

With his gym leader duty finished, he moved over to Misty. Ash, Serena, Drake, and the Pokemon all took a step back to allow them some space. Mahri is by Rudy's side, excitingly awaiting the answer. Taking a deep breath, Rudy started the conversation.

"Misty... I am almost too scared to ask but, have you come up with an answer?" Rudy asked as he looked into her eyes. Misty looked back at the hopeful expression, although she can't see her friends she is sure they look similar. Taking her own deep breath, she started her answer.

"Yes... I have Rudy... Sorry, but I am not ready to settle down." Misty hesitantly replied. Mahri responded by tackling Misty with a bear hug in hopes of changing her mind. Misty returned the gesture but continued to look at Rudy. "Sorry Rudy, but I still want to take over my dad's gym. And while training here is an option, when I was offered the job I was told to go and see as many gyms as I could and build up a strong team. I can't do that here on Trovita. I would love to start a relationship with you but as my Seaking pointed out, if I stay here. How many more friends would I miss out on meeting?".

"... It's okay, Misty. I understand." Rudy replied.

"If I never left my sisters, then I would only have Starmie, who would likely still be a Staryu. I might have Tentacruel as well, but not likely." Misty answered. "I would love for you to join me, when I take over the Cerulean gym but before then I need to prepare to become the best gym leader I can. And that means continuing my travels.".

"But... You'll still see us right?" Mahri asked.

"Of course." Misty smiled. "I have your brothers number and I know I wouldn't want anyone else by my side when I take over the gym. Is it okay if we put off the invitation until then?".

"Yes, of course it is." Rudy replied with a massive smile on his face. "I meant what I said last night, even if it means waiting years I will. Just the fact that you accept, even if on a delay means the world to me.". Mahri was forced to end the hug as Rudy pulled Misty into a kiss.

"Eww." Mahri pulled a grossed-out face.

Serena smiled at one of her friends as Misty is getting possibly the happiest ending in a situation like this. She reacted by letting her friend have her moment and pulled Ash into a kiss. She knows it can be embarrassing to have people watch so she is taking both hers and Ash's attention off her. Drake looked at Cubone with a massive sweat drop on the back of his head. Cubone looked at his trainer with a similar expression.

"Bone Cubone." Cubone muttered.

"You said it." Drake replied.

* * *

The group is sat on the back of Lapras sailing towards the fourth and final of the Orange League gyms. The groups switched their teams around. Ash has: Pikachu, Charizard, Primeape, Muk, Dragonair and Lapras, with Togepi obviously. Serena has: Delphox, Kadabra, Tangela, Kingdra, Eevee and Seel. Misty didn't make any major changes, only swapping Psyduck for Shelder. Drake has: Charizard, Jolteon, Victreebel, Machamp, Cubone and Snorlax.

Misty properly said goodbye to Rudy and Mahri, with the promise to meet up again when it is time for Misty to stop her travels but for now they will be in a long-distance relationship. It will be hard for both of them, but they know they will make it through but for now, they still have one important aspect of the day.

"Here you go, Misty." Ash handed her a wrapped-up box. "Happy birthday.".

Misty smiled a thank you and accepted the box. With everything that was going on today and Misty's Dilemma, they hadn't had the chance to give her any birthday gifts. She opened the medium sized box and found a case for her fishing rod. She still has the fishing rod her sisters brought for her on her last birthday (the only reason asking to use Leaf's back when she caught Poliwag being it is the model up) and now she has something to carry it rather than her bag.

"Thank you, Ash." Misty replied as she placed it on her lap. When they reach the next island, she will be sure to put her rod in it but for right now, sitting on Lapras, it is best to not move around too much. Ash knows that from experience.

"Well, I guess I will go next." Serena suggested as she handed her gift over to the orange-hair girl.

Again, Misty flashed her a grateful smile before accepting the package. Opening the sort of round and soft package revealed to be a new back. It was of the same colour and design as her current one but much bigger. While her current bag wasn't fully, it was pretty cramped, and it even suited the new clothes Serena helped her design for her date with Rudy.

"Thank you, Serena. I love it." Misty thanked whole-heartily. The two girls shared a brief friendly hug.

"Here." Drake passed Misty a book shaped present once the hug ended.

Misty again shot him a grateful smile, but Drake's expression didn't change. He isn't the best when reading people or emotions, he is getting better but that is more on the Pokemon side. Misty knew this and didn't take Drake's response the wrong way as a result. She opened the present and found a book titled 'The Ultimate Guild Towards Water Pokemon'. With how big he is on studying, it isn't a major surprise he got her a book. He is sort of like Brock in that respect.

"Thank you Drake." Misty thanked. Drake gave a slight nodded as indication that he heard it before turning to Cubone. Ash checked on Lapras as Serena played with Togepi. The Spike ball isn't so dependant and clingy on Ash now and is slowly growing up. It may be a while but before long he will be battling and training with Ash's other Pokemon.

With her friends doing their own thing, Misty opened the book Drake gave her. She would need to wait until the hit land before she can use her other gifts, so this is a good time to start studying her element. Of course, she will miss Rudy, but this is for the best. If she never left her gym in the first place, she wouldn't have met Seaking. She would've still met Ash, Serena and Brock when they challenged the gym. Chances are she would've asked to join them like Brock did back in Pewter but if she stayed on Trovita, how many more Pokemon will she miss out on catching? When she takes over her father's gym, she wants to with her own team of Pokemon by her side, and not rely on her father's older Pokemon. That way, she can make the gym her own and make both her parents proud.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	14. Snorlax & the Grape Fruit Islands

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, from the title it should be obvious what will happen in this chapter. Also, some of Ash and Drake working together. Ash has been teaching Drake to bond so now it is time for Drake to also pass on his knowledge. I have swapped the poll over, the current one is about which eeveelution Serena should end up with. I just want to see everyone's thoughts on the subject. This poll will stay until after the Power of One arc. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 14: Snorlax & the Grape Fruit Islands_

It has been a few days since the group left Trovita islands. Nothing much has happen during that time; the group have stopped on a couple of un-inhabited islands at night. The group is currently on Lapras' back but Ash was concerned with something.

"Drake, is there any nearby islands?" Ash asked as he rubbed the transport Pokemon's head.

"Um, we are in the middle of the grape fruit islands. Why?" Drake replied after checking his Pokegear.

"We've been travelling pretty constantly since leaving Trovita." Ash replied. "I don't want Lapras to hurt herself, and since were making good time I think a training day would be good.".

"I'm okay." Lapras butted in, turning her head to nuzzle her cheek against Ash. While she could easily continue travelling at this speed, she is really grateful that Ash is so concerned for her. Plus, she wouldn't mind some training. Each day they are getting closer to her parents, so she wants to get as strong as she can in the time before then. While she misses her parents dearly, she can't help but think that meeting Ash was a blessing in disguise.

"I know you are Lapras. But I don't want you to strain yourself, and we could always use more training." Ash explained to the water ice type.

"What are the grape fruit islands?" Serena asked.

"A group of several islands filled with grape fruit trees. It is the biggest source of the fruit on the planet." Drake explained. "It says visitors are allowed on the islands, but it is a crime to pick the fruit without permission.".

"That shouldn't be a problem." Ash replied. "What do you think of it Misty?". The water type specialist had her back to the rest of the group at the minute, with her new bag Serena got her for her birthday on her back. She also had her new Pokegear up to her ear, which her sisters brought her for her birthday.

"Heehee, I don't think Misty can answer you right now." Serena giggled.

Even since leaving Trovita, Misty has been using her new Pokegear to keep in touch with Rudy, it's not that it is a bad thing, but it does mean they haven't really had a proper conversation with her for more than a few minutes since leaving Rudy. It's not that them staying in touch is necessarily bad, and none of the trio have a real problem for it but it does make decisions that much hard since Misty hasn't been involved in the discussion thus far.

"Hey Mist, we are thinking of making a stop on the Grape Fruit Islands for some training." Ash whispered in the orange-hair girls ear after an almost silent sigh, with how Misty has been since leaving Trovita it is almost like she never decided to leave and continue her travels.

Misty quickly looked at the raven-hair boy and gave a swift nod to show she had no complaints with that plan of action. She turned back and continued her conversation with her boyfriend. Ash sighed, he has no problem with them being together but there is a time and a place, that is why Ash and Serena only really have alone time when no-one else is around, because it is just kind of rude towards everyone else.

"Don't worry Ash, I am sure as time goes on Misty won't be on the phone as often to Rudy." Serena reassured her boyfriend. "Besides, if we were in their position. Wouldn't you be on the phone to me like that?".

Ash blushed at Serena's comment. Why would they be apart like that? He knows there was a danger of that back before she conquered the battle chateau, but he wouldn't have left without her. He would've happily stayed in Kanto. Still why is she asking this?

Serena giggled at Ash's reaction and loss for words. Since Misty is so busy speaking with Rudy and when they reach the next island no doubt the two brothers will be training together, Serena looped her arms around his and rest her head on his shoulder, she is going to enjoy the short time on Lapras together.

Drake rolled his eyes in response to the couple and turned to the ground type on his lap. The Lonely Pokemon looked up at his trainer and smirked.

"Bone, Cu Cubone?" The ground type asked with confidence.

"Shut up." Drake replied with a narrow of his eyes. He had a hint of playfulness in his voice but was being serious. Why would Cubone think that he needs to find a partner now that he is the only single one in the group? He barely understands regular human interactions never mind more complicated relationships.

* * *

Sailing on a piece of wood across the ocean, a little pink balloon Pokemon with a microphone in hand is on the search for an audience to preform for. As she looked over the sea, she spotted what looked like some sort of water type travelling towards an island, with a group of people and Pokemon on said Pokemon's back. The normal fairy type began to sail towards them, it is time for another concert.

* * *

The group landed on the island and they noticed that there is a small beach area with the rest of the island being more of a forest with each tree having large grape fruits on them. According to the Pokegear it is fine for them to be on the island but not take the grape fruit, so it makes sense to stay on the beach to train.

Ash and Drake walked away a bit to start training together. Togepi hasn't long fell asleep so he is taking a nap in Ash's backpack. Pikachu and Cubone were with them and were the first of their Pokemon to start training and entered a sparring match between Iron Tail and Bone Club respectively. The two brothers released their five remain Pokemon.

"Ash, your Muk knows Shadow Sneak, right?" Drake asked.

"Yeah, Haunter helped teach him. Why." Ash replied.

"Then he can partner up with Jolteon, he is my fastest Pokemon, so it will be good to increase his reaction time plus his high special defence means he can take a lot from Jolteon especially in sparring mode." Drake explained.

"Great." Ash smiled as he turned towards the two Pokemon. "You heard that, you two.". The two Pokemon nodded and went off to a small area to start their own sparring match. The two brothers caught the glint in both of the Charizard's eyes and knew what both of them wanted.

"Nope, you two aren't battling today." Drake stopped them before they started. "Professor Oak told us how you almost burnt down the lab so from now on you can work on different things. My Charizard is more adept to physical moves so I want you to work on mastering Dragon Pulse. It is like Flamethrower but with Dragon type energy, you should be able to work it out on your own.". Drake's fire flying type nodded and walked towards the water, by launching his attacks towards the water he won't risk destroying the different trees.

"And I want you to work on mastering Thunder Punch." Ash told his Charizard. "Pikachu has already shown you how to generate electric type energy, so now practice makes perfect.". Ash's Charizard nodded but grumbled something under his breath. He wanted to show Drake's starter who really is the strongest. Still, he made his way over to a rock where he clenched his fists trying to coat them in electricity. Once ready, he began punching the rock.

"Ash, since you've been helping me I think it's time I return the favour. Me and Machamp will help with you and Primeape." Drake explained. "So, have you got any ideas for what you want Lapras or Dragonair to do?".

"Well Dragonair has been working on learning Draco Meteor but with the grape fruit trees being so close I don't think this is the best place to practice this move." Ash explained. "She is mostly a special attacker, apart from restraining opponents with Wrap so some close combat training would be good for her.".

"Okay then, she can spar with Victreebel." Drake replied before turning towards the two Pokemon. "Stick to Leaf Blade and Aqua Tail respectively, you're not trying to hurt each other but improve both of your skills in close quarters fighting.

The two Pokemon nodded and moved over to a clear area of the beach. Both smirked one a princess and the other is a prankster, you couldn't get two personalities that are further apart. As instructed the two Pokemon began to use their two attacks in a swift close quarters battle. The only exception being, they really aren't pulling any of their punches. One a princess determined to show the court jester his place and the other a fun-loving prankster trying to drag the up-tight dragon of her throne. The brothers sighed in unison, while neither of these two have been disobedient, they both have very strong personalities and that is showing now.

"Well... That leaves Snorlax and Lapras." Drake pointed out. "Any ideas?".

"Yeah, I want Lapras to work on increasing her power. Do you think your Snorlax can handle anything like that?" Ash asked.

"Hmm... They can match Ice Beam and Solar Beam respectively. " Drake replied thoughtfully before turning to Snorlax. "Remember you're a lot stronger then Lapras, Snorlax so I want you to hold back a lot. We both know you can overpower Lapras, so help her reach your level.". The normal type nodded in agreement.

"You okay with this, Lapras?" Ash checked with the young water ice type. Snorlax was already absorbing sunlight to power his grass type move, while it is true Snorlax could do the same with Hyper Beam, Solar Beam is easier to control because the power is based on the Sunlight and not from the Pokemon's sored energy.

Lapras swam far out into the sea and turned to face Snorlax, she has seen this beast in action so has an idea of what he is capable of. While she hasn't interacted with him, she doesn't mind training as he is clearly a powerful Pokemon. She isn't as shy as when she first joined.

Drake signalled her to attack and she fired an Ice Beam at the large normal type. It struck him head on but Snorlax didn't even flinch. While disheartening, Lapras quickly reminded herself that Snorlax are designed to take a lot of hits plus his ability reduces the damage of ice type moves anyway. Snorlax fired a very weak Solar Beam against Lapras' attack so they were even about half way between the two Pokemon. Lapras was showing clear signs of attacking at her full strength while Snorlax looked like he was barely lifting a finger. This will really help improve her attack power.

"So, what are we going to work on?" Ash asked.

"Your battle technique." Drake replied bluntly. "In your battle with Rudy, Aerodactyl and Sandslash were fine but that's not surprising one has decades of experience and the other literally thought against the world. It was the final battle where I saw some issues.".

"What do you mean?" Ash asked getting slightly angry.

"You had Blastoise charge straight in without considering your opponent. From both mine and Misty's Starmie you should know they like to use special attacks so a head on assault with Bite isn't the most effective attack plan." Drake explained. "You may have won but that was because of a lucky evolution.".

"So, what do you suggest?" Ash asked.

"Well, I suggested Primeape and Machamp because they are both fighting types. Let's battle them and when we find the mistake we'll stop." Drake explained. "Once I point out my point, you should be able to see your battles in a different light.".

"Sounds good." Ash smiled clearly excited at the prospect of a battle.

* * *

 _Ash VS Drake (Training Battle):_

The two brothers were stood off against each other with their own fighting type in front of them, just like there is a battlefield. Machamp was stood patiently while Primeape was more energetic and egar to get started.

"You have the first move." Drake informed.

"Then let's start strong." Ash smirked back. "Use Cross Chop, Primeape.".

Primeape leaped from his starting position towards the Superpower Pokemon. Crossing his arms in front of him a barrier of energy covered the Pig Monkey's arms as he closed in. Drake was waiting patiently, just like his fighting type. Primeape was an inch away from landing his attack.

"Counter with your own Cross Chop." Drake instructed.

Reacting on instinct, Machamp held his two lower arms in a similar position like Primeape's as the same sort of power barrier appeared. The main difference is, Primeape is in an attack position while Machamp is more defensive. Drake didn't give Ash or Primeape the chance to counter.

"Grab it and use Seismic Toss." Drake quickly ordered.

Machamp used one of his back arms to grab Primeape but the head as his Cross Chop blocked the incoming attack. Once Primeape was in his grip, Machamp jumped into the air as both Cross Chop's were cancelled. Doing about three full spins, Machamp launched Primeape into the sand as he landed looming over him with a confident expression.

"Primeape!" Ash shouted as his Pig Monkey Pokemon started to push himself up.

"Enough." Drake replied as he walked towards the two fighting types. Ash took his brother's cue and also approached them. "Your first mistake, playing one of your strongest cards straight of the bat.".

"What?" Ash asked.

"Cross Chop is way too strong of a move to start a battle." Drake replied. "It is like a game of chess; the queen is the strongest piece, but you only have one. You keep it safe until late into the game. Once you have shown your strongest card, you can only go down.".

"But that was also your first move." Ash replied.

"Cause and effect. I needed a move capable of holding of your Primeape's Cross Chop and I know Machamp is stronger than he is, so the same move worked nicely." Drake explained. "If you were to use a different move, I would've reacted to that move instead.".

Primeape grunted angrily at his trainer's brother.

"What do you mean Machamp is stronger?" Ash asked also angry.

"Because Machamp has for arms of pure muscle. I know all my Pokemon's strengths and weakness'." Drake replied. "I will admit Primeape is superior to Machamp in several areas, just not brute strength. It is naive and foolish to believe your Pokemon is the best in every area. Not to mention unrealistic.".

Ash... Couldn't argue with that point. "So, what do you suggest?".

"Play to your Pokemon's strengths in battle while avoiding revealing their weakness'." Drake replied. "Primeape is smaller, faster and more agile compared to Machamp, use that. He could get in a bunch of weaker attacks that build up before Machamp lands one.".

Ash nodded in understanding. He has always been one to be quick to praise his Pokemon in a victory or reassure them if they lost but he never really considered talking about their weakness' together. He has always believed a Pokemon can overcome any weakness, but Drake makes a lot of sense, they need to play to their strengths. It may seem cruel but ultimately, it will save the Pokemon pain on the battlefield.

"So, shall we continue?" Drake asked.

* * *

"Good job Kingdra & Seel. Keep it up!" Serena shouted out encouragement to her two water types.

Kingdra and Seel were in the middle of the water practising a water appeals performance they came up with, along with Serena of course. Due to her evolution, they had to change it so now Kingdra is using most of the moves to show Seel off. Showing Kingdra's strength and Seel's cuteness all at the same time. No-doubt this will make for a good appeal performance in a double contest. Especially one which specialises in water types.

The two water types nodded in agreement before going over the routine once again. Serena smiled before turning towards her Eevee and Tangela. The two have both gotten their own appeal performance down and Eevee has even been learning to do contest battles (just not as much as Farfetch'd) but Tangela has been nervous about the new type of battle so the evolution Pokemon volunteered to help Tangela get use to contest battles.

"Good job, you two. It seems like you're getting the hang of it, Tangela." Serena praised her grass type.

Tangela was happy with the praise. In truth, she has never been a massive battle fan, but these contest battles are a completely different story. She is fully enjoying them, and she also loves the appeal rounds. Now she feels like an actual member because he less than enthusiastic approach to battles and shy nature honestly made her feel a little like the black sheep of the team even if Serena always made her feel welcome.

"Keep it up you two." Serena told her two Pokemon who started up another sparring match.

Next Serena looked over to her starter Pokemon. She was practising an appeals performance which involves manipulating fire whilst showing off a sort of ball room dance just without a partner. Looking at the performance, while beautiful, the flames are sort of camouflaging Delphox. Remembering what Shauna said about the appeals round being about showing off the Pokemon's beauty and strength, Serena realised this would cause quite a few issues.

"Hold on, Delphox." Serena approached her started. Upon hearing her trainers voice, Delphox stopped her performance and used a Psychic attack to extinguish the flames. She also gave Serena her full attention. "Your dancing is great, but your using so many flames that u just blend in. Maybe tone the flames back and use Psychic to manipulate them whilst dancing.".

Delphox nodded in understanding. Honestly, they are all getting good in their own areas whether that would be the appeal performance or contest battle or in some cases both. The only problem is they haven't actually competed in any contests, so they haven't been able to learn from experience. Of course, the information given by Shauna was invaluable and is really help but until they properly compete they won't get the full experience.

Delphox restarted her routine taking Serena's advice into account, even though having to multi-task the dancing and psychic manipulation did slow Delphox down, she was a lot clearer and the routine looks more professional. With a little more practice, she would be ready. Serena continued to watch her starter with a smile on her face. That was, until someone appeared behind her.

"Gwa!" Serena jumped in fear. Turns out Kadabra had just teleported behind her, seeing as she has checked on the other five members of the team he decided to see what he should do. At the start he was trying to master Focus Blast, but he now has the fighting move down. "Kadabra, don't sneak up on people like that.".

"Dabra." Kadabra apologised with a sweat drop.

"It's okay... I am guessing you've finished with Focus Blast?" Serena guessed. Kadabra nodded in agreement and for an example powered a Focus Blast attack up in his hands, launching it across the water for a demonstration. "That's great, now. I was hoping you could help me with something.".

"Kadabra." Kadabra replied.

"Well, I want to start practising my own Psychic powers which Mr Ketchum confirmed I have." Serena replied. "I just... Don't know where to start and with you being a psychic type, I thought you could help me.".

"Dabra, Kadabra." Kadabra replied.

Kadabra dropped onto the ground, with his legs crossed. He was meditating. Focusing his psychic energy around his trainer, he found a small flicker to show she indeed is capable of using psychic powers. While it is true Delphox could do this, Kadabra is naturally better suited because like Serena his Psychic powers are directly from his mind, compared to Delphox who uses her fire element to help her brain and body handle the psychic pressure. This is the reason, Abra's sleep for so much of the day, because of the stress the Psychic powers put on their minds and it also why they can only really use Hidden Power and Teleport. They evolve once their mind has fully overcome the Psychic barriers created in the transition, these barriers act as a sort of test.

"Um, Kadabra?" Serena questioned as she saw the psychic energy surrounding her.

"Dabra." Kadabra opened one eye and gestured for her to join him in meditation.

Taking the hint, Serena sat in front of her psychic type in the same pose. She has joined him in meditating before and it honestly seems to make sense from what she has observed off her Kadabra. With her mind in a focused state, Kadabra was able to set up the barriers to stop her powers from completely taking over before she can handle them. His parents did the same thing when he first hatched and is for safety reasons. Of course, Serena likely won't suffer from the same sleep patterns as an Abra because they have a much smaller body meaning the powers put more pressure on it.

Little did either of them know, they were being watched along with the rest of Serena's team. Normally, Kadabra would be able to sense the other being's presence but this is a hard job and he can't spare the distraction. A round pink and fluffy Pokemon was hiding behind a tree as she watched what was happening. All of these Pokemon look beautiful whether the two water types in the sea, or the two smaller Pokemon who are battling but also looking amazing or that dancing fire fox.

But the main focus was the honey-blonde girl surround by some sort of blue light, presumably from that humanoid Pokemon in front of her. They must be doing some sort of performance which involves Psychic moves. The pink puff ball loves to perform and while on her journey to show her lovely singing voice to as many Pokemon as possible. The normal fairy type is sure she has seen this girl before and while performing for passers-by is fine, she is a big star and needs a big venue to accommodate her. As such, she knows what she should do.

She has been travelling by herself and while she has performed for a few people, they have all fallen asleep. As punishment for their rudeness, she would draw on their faces. As time has gone on, she has realised no big star has made it on their own. What she needs is a manager, or trainer, either will do. This girl clearly has a great technique for making all her Pokemon look amazing, she will make a fine manager. With her mind made up, Jigglypuff made her way over to her new manager to introduce herself. Of course, the girl will welcome her with open arms, why wouldn't she?

"Um, Kadabra... What did you just do?" Serena asked a little dizzy after feeling like he used Confuse Ray on her head.

"Dabra Dabra, Kadabra. Dabra Kadabra." Kadabra explained as he used the Barrier to visualise what he did. While she can't understand a Pokemon's native tongue like Ash can, she understands her own Pokemon to get the idea of what Kadabra is saying.

"So... You create some sort of mental psychic barriers to protect my mind from being over ran with the Psychic energy until it can learn to harness that very energy?" Serena clarified.

"Dabra." Kadabra replied with a simple nod of the head.

"Jiggly." A pink Balloon Pokemon appeared behind Serena. Turning towards the newly arrived Pokemon, Kadabra looked confused as to why this Jigglypuff just referred to Serena as manager and what she wants in the first place.

"Jigglypuff?" Serena questioned as she looked at the normal fairy type. "What are you doing here?".

They have had run-ins with a Jigglypuff before. Firstly, outside of Mt. Moon near the start of their journey when Serena caught her Kadabra who was a little Abra teleporting away from Leaf. Then again when Ash's Pidgeotto evolved and they met Paul for the first time. Both times Jigglypuff used sing and they fell asleep, waking up with drawing on their faces and with that item in Jigglypuff's hand, this could be the same one.

"Jiggly Jiggly, Puff. Jigglypuff." Jigglypuff explained with some weird gestures to emphasis her point.

While Serena isn't able to understand her really words and unlike with her own Pokemon she isn't close enough to Jigglypuff to get the idea of what she is saying, in her head she can see images of Jigglypuff on a big stage with thousands of people cheering for her. She starts to sing her usual song, but the people are falling asleep, they are applauding her. While a strange experience, Serena realised what this was. It was her psychic powers allowing her to feel Jigglypuff's strongest desire.

"You, want to be a star?" Serena spoke slowly as she got her barrings. "And you want me to help you get there after seeing the rest of my team?".

"Jigglypuff." The normal fairy type nodded in agreement. While she didn't word it quite as politely as that, it is what she wants.

"Well... If that's what you want." Serena continued as she pulled out a Pokeball. Not just any Pokeball, she just had her first real experience of using her Psychic powers and it was with a Pokemon who is joining her team. With that in mind, she picked a special Pokeball from her bag. An Ultra Ball Leaf gave her for her birthday back at Cinnebar. "Then welcome to the team.".

Jigglypuff didn't hesitate for a moment and used a weak pound on the centre of the nice-looking ball. The Balloon Pokemon was sucked inside and it instantly dinged to show Jigglypuff didn't even try to resist. Although Jigglypuff is happy with this new manager even more, giving her a special ball to travel in. Serena smiled as she pulled out her Pokedex to scan her newly caught Pokemon:

 _Jigglypuff, The Balloon Pokemon. The evolved form of Igglybuff. It hugely inflates its stomach and sings a mysterious melody. If you hear this melody, you'll become sleepy right away. Jigglypuff possess a vocal range that exceeds 12 octaves, but each individual's singing skill depends on its own effort._

 _Type: Normal / Fairy_

 _Ability: Competitive_

 _Hidden Ability: Friend Guard (Note: This hidden ability is locked)._

 _Gender: Female_

 _Nature: Adamant (Note: This nature could change when this Pokemon evolves)_

 _Move(s): Sing, Defence Curl, Pound, Play Nice, Disarming Voice, Disable, Rollout_

 _Held Item: Sharpie Pen (This item has no know boosts to this Pokemon's battle capabilities, although it is shaped like a microphone)_

Suddenly, Serena's Pokedex started vibrating and the screen lit up with images of all of Serena's current on hand Pokemon: Delphox, Kadabra, Tangela, Kingdra, Eevee, Seel & Jigglypuff. Although all but Jigglypuff was blacked out, since the others were still out of their Pokeballs.

"Please select which Pokemon you wish to send back." The device requested.

Serena looked at the seven images. She is going to need to recall one of her Pokemon because she wants to keep Jigglypuff. Not only does she want to get to know the normal fairy type but considering what Jigglypuff does when they fall asleep to her singing, Serena would hate to see what she does if she thinks she has just been sent away without so much of a chat. Well, Seel has been with her for a while and is the least adept to the hot climate because of her relation to the ice type.

"Return Seel..." Serena recalled her water type. Seel happily let herself get recalled. The water's picture lit up on the Pokedex and Serena clicked her image, which resulted in Seel's Pokeball being teleported away. Serena smiled and put the Pokedex away before throwing the Ultra Ball into the air. "Come on out, Jigglypuff!".

In a flash of light, the Balloon Pokemon appeared in front of Serena. Out of the corner of her eye, she also noticed Kingdra had approached the island seeing as her training partner had left. Serena quickly made up a plan for her three Pokemon now who need something to do.

"Kadabra, I know you don't like contest battles, but could you do some battle practice with Kingdra. Please?" Serena requested. "Your both two of my strongest Pokemon, I think you can really help her.".

Kadabra nodded in agreement and he teleported over to the water dragon type. Serena smiled as she watched as the two Pokemon start sparring, she has started to explore her psychic powers and thanks to Kadabra she can use them sort of safely, now she just needs to learn how to use these powers. Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, she turned to her newest team member.

"Okay Jigglypuff, from what I know of you. I bet you want to get working on an appeals performance." Serena smiled as the normal fairy type had a bright smile grow on her face.

* * *

Misty had just left her phone on the portable charging pack which Pikachu happily keeps usable. Of course, due to how the Pokegear has been set up no Pokemon is able to just shoot electricity into the device, not without blowing it up at least.

Now that she is kinda forced to part from her boyfriend, she decided to join her friends in training. She left Trovita to become the best gym leader when the time comes. She released her team of: Starmie, Seaking, Kingler, Vaporeon, Shelder & Poliwag. She paired Poliwag with Vaporeon to work on the projectile moves. Shelder was paired with Kingler, working on his defences. With Starmie and Seaking having a battle in the water.

She smiled as she saw her Pokemon get on with their training. Turning around she decided to look at the island they found themselves on. It is pretty clear why this is called the Grape Fruit Islands as there are thousands of trees filled with giant grape fruit. Looking around something seemed off, as while a lot of the trees were filled with fruit and ready to pick but a few of the trees seemed to be picked clean.

"I wonder what has happened?" Misty muttered to herself.

"It was the work of the Grape Fruit thief." An unfamiliar female voice answered Misty. The sudden voice made Misty jump in surprise, which alerted her friends meaning Ash, Serena and Drake walked over.

The female in question seemed to be in her early to mid-twenties, with dark green hair which was pulled back into a ponytail and dressed as if she did some sort of farm work. The girl didn't seem to react to the child around her.

"The grape fruit thief is a wild Snorlax who appeared on the first island last week. It has been going over our Grape Fruit islands picking the trees clean." The women explained. "We set up alarms to clue us into its location which is how we knew you lot arrived. My names Ruby and I work on these islands.".

"I'm Ash, this is Serena my girlfriend and Drake my brother. And this is Misty." Ash introduced his friends.

"A Snorlax?" Serena questioned. "But Drake's Snorlax is here and he hasn't even given the Grape Fruit a second glance.".

"There's a few reasons for that, first mine is trained and has more self-control as a result. Second, the Professor gave me this recipe which expands the food in a Pokemon's stomach, so it is easier to fill Snorlax's stomach and breakfast wasn't long ago." Drake explained. "And finally, mine doesn't like Grape Fruit, he prefers apples.".

"That is very good, but we still have a problem with the wild Snorlax. If we don't stop it soon then we will have a massive problem on our hands." Ruby interrupted.

"I would hate to be a grape fruit on this island." Misty muttered to herself.

"We can help you!" Ash exclaimed. "I am sure with all our Pokemon we can stop it.".

Drake mentally sighed, is there no-one his brother won't help? Snorlax are some of the hardest Pokemon to catch because they naturally have a lot of strength, even a wild one. "If we are gonna help, then we need to learn a few things. Like how a Snorlax suddenly appeared on a group of isolated islands.".

"Oh, we already know that." Ruby spoke up. "It swam.".

"It... Swam?" Drake questioned with a hint of disbelief. "Well Ash, you might as well try and catch it then.".

"Huh, why?" Ash questioned.

"Snorlax aren't known for their swimming abilities. It would match your tread to catch Pokemon who aren't like the rest of their species." Drake replied.

"My Pokemon aren't that weird." Ash retorted.

"Pikachu with a ketchup obsession. Openly affectionate Gyarados. Sandslash who hates people. A Muk who is a hugger." Drake listed off. "And do I even need to mention your Haunter?".

"... Fair point." Ash pouted.

"But if you're going to capture it, then we will need a plan." Drake replied.

"Why don't you just battle it with your Machamp or Snorlax, Drake?" Misty suggested. "They are probably the Pokemon we currently have who have enough physical strength to match Snorlax.".

"Maybe Jigglypuff could sing it too sleep." Serena suggested.

"Jigglypuff?" Ash questioned.

"Yeah, I caught her not long ago. I think she is the one we met a few times in Kanto." Serena explained.

"Congratulation." Ash congratulated.

"Sing would only buy us a little extra time, since a sleeping Pokemon isn't guaranteed to be caught." Drake explained. A Pokemon can still have resistance against a Pokeball when asleep because it would be too easy for a trainer to catch anything otherwise. On a sleeping Pokemon the ball works as if the Pokemon is still resisting it at an even rate. "And if Ash is going to try and catch it, then I think he and his team should try and catch it.".

"Well, Snorlax are quite physically based and not very fast. After training with Machamp, I am sure Primeape can handle Snorlax." Ash replied.

Ruby smiled as the kids came up with a way to help her. She doesn't care who catches Snorlax, just as long as it goes. With a plan made up, the group returned all there Pokemon except for Pikachu, Togepi and Cubone. With everything packed up, Ruby started to lead the group towards the grape fruit thief.

It took the group around five minutes to reach the location of Snorlax. When they arrived, they found a very disgusting sight. A Snorlax was stood next to a tree, piercing the grape fruit with his claws before swallowing them whole. In reality, the eating manors seemed to match Ash's in all honesty, except Snorlax is quieter.

"I choose you, Primeape!" Ash shouted as he released his Pig Monkey Pokemon. Primeape appeared in front of Snorlax and pounded the ground with his fists in an aggressive manner. After nearly three hours of being Machamp's punching bag, he is ready to dish out his own punishment and this thing is the perfect target.

Snorlax turned towards the group and popped the last grape fruit into his mouth. Swallowing it in one big gulp, he stood up and entered a battle stance. He maybe enjoys his food, but he isn't stupid. He is very strong even though he lacks any professional training. This will be an easy win.

* * *

 _Ash VS Snorlax:_

"Get close, Primeape." Ash instructed keeping the training session with Drake at the front of his mind.

Primeape smirked as he charged forward with incredible speed. While tired from the training session, he is showing clear improvements as he is moving much faster than before. Drake saw how Primeape was moving, and was ready to see if his teaching actually would work.

Snorlax raised his left paw as he Primeape closed in and swiped down starting at his top left. Primeape seemed to see everything in slow motion as he saw the incoming attack. Snorlax was using Chip Away.

"Dodge to the right and use Karate Chop." Ash instructed.

Like a bullet, Primeape slide to the right and avoided Snorlax's arm. The Sleeping Pokemon lost his balance since his move missed and Primeape reacted quickly, delivery a few fast pace Karate Chop's to Snorlax's back. Unfortunately, Snorlax didn't seem to feel the attacks and stood up looking angry.

Snorlax dived forward as his tongue left his mouth. He prepared to use a lick attack. Ash new he couldn't risk that move hitting Primeape as it is known for causing paralysis. With Snorlax towering over Primeape, Ash knew going over the normal type wasn't an option.

"Dodge with Low Kick." Ash instructed.

Primeape fell low, just out of reach of Snorlax's tongue. Before the Sleeping Pokemon could move to make the ghost type move land, Primeape swiped his foot under the normal type. This resulted in Snorlax falling face first into the ground and unlike the Karate Chop, he felt that attack and it didn't tickle.

Snorlax pushed himself off the ground looking even angrier then before. He was stronger than this fighting type, he just wasn't faster. If this pig just stood still, then he would be able to win this no problem. Unfortunately, for Snorlax, neither Ash or Primeape were willing to give Snorlax that chance.

"Close Combat!" Ash hollered.

Primeape charged at the Sleeping Pokemon who was still getting his barrings. The Pig Monkey Pokemon began to unleash a barrage of punches and kicks on the normal type as Snorlax grunted in pain. Primeape smirked as he got to deliver a good old-fashioned beat down.

Snorlax began to glow as he tried to curl up his body as best he could. Ash could easily see that he was using Defence Curl as he has seen several Pokemon use the move in the past.

"Stop it, Primeape. He is using Defence Curl, you'll tire yourself out more than him." Ash instructed.

Primeape listened to his trainer's voice and stopped the Close Combat immediately, jumping back in front of Ash, but the fighting type was clearly tired with sweat covering his head and heavy panting. Snorlax looked at the fighting type and smirked, now he can hit that pest.

The normal type jumped into the air before spreading his body out a falling directly over Primeape. The fighting type noticed the shadow over him and grew an alarmed expression. He is too tired to even think of an escape route. Lucky, his trainer has his back covered.

"Jump and use Reversal!" Ash shouted.

Primeape acted instinctively to his trainer's voice and jumped slightly to the left. He met Snorlax's arm and she grabbed a hold of it. Pushing his back into the normal types stomach, Primeape used all his strength and threw the Sleeping Pokemon over his shoulder.

Snorlax's Body Slam attack was cancelled as he slammed into the ground with a large thud. A mini Earthquake was also created making it difficult for all nearby people to keep their balance. Primeape was sailing above Snorlax and Ash had a sudden brain wave. All the attacks on the Sleeping Pokemon's body weren't that effective as his body is built to take the powerful blows. Lucky not all of Snorlax is exactly built to take powerful hits.

"Cross Chop on his head!" Ash hollered.

Primeape re-positioned his body as he fell towards the ground. Crossing his arms in front of him, he was on a collision cause for the normal type's head. Ash knew this was Primeape's last attack as he is too tired to continue. Power covered his arms as Snorlax saw the incoming attack.

As the fighting type closed in, Snorlax rolled onto his stomach. Primeape was unable to change his own path and slammed into the ground where the normal type once lay. As the Sleeping Pokemon stood up, ready to deliver a beating to the fighting type a red beam shot past him.

"Return Primeape." Ash quickly recalled his fighting type. The red light shot past Snorlax and struck the fighting type who was hidden amongst a cloud of dust. Ash doesn't need to see his condition to know he isn't able to continue and he doesn't want to risk Snorlax beating him to the punch. With Primeape safe, Ash quickly switched the Pokeball for an Ultra Ball. "I choose you, Dragonair!".

In a flash of light, the dragon type appeared and let out an elegant battle cry. Snorlax turned towards his latest opponent and was panting slightly. Ash knew none of his current Pokemon were at a type advantage, so he chose Dragonair based on what Drake taught him earlier. Dragonair is able to exploit one of the normal types biggest weakness' and this time, Snorlax is the one tired from the previous battle. While they are very strong, this normal type is missing proper training to use that strength.

Drake looked as the two Pokemon entered a battle stance, with a neutral expression. Guess the previous lesson with Ash work alright, instead of just looking on the surface for type advantage his brother has exposed one of Snorlax's weakness' and is going in to use it against the Sleeping Pokemon. Snorlax was the first to make a move as he started a slow charge towards the Dragon Pokemon. Snorlax was using tackle.

"Agility into Wrap, don't let him move." Ash instructed.

In the blink of an eye, Dragonair disappeared from her spot. A second later she reappeared wrapped around the Sleeping Pokemon. Her tail was wrapped around the normal types arm. Next her body wrapped around his neck before also restraining his other arm. Dragonair had her head high above Snorlax as her body tightened its grip. Snorlax was forced to cancel his Tackle and began thrashing about as he tried to remove the straight jacket he found himself in.

"Use Thunder Wave." Ash added as he saw Snorlax struggle.

While Ash has no-doubt Dragonair is able to keep her grip on Snorlax regardless of how much he struggled, if not only because the normal type is already tired from his battle with Primeape. Dragonair let out an elegant roar as her gem glew blue and several sparks of electricity escaped it. The sparks floated onto the Sleeping Pokemon and paralysed him. This was evident as he stopped struggling.

Snorlax realised he is in a tight spot and it quickly being defeated. In his attempt to stop this happening and to get rid of his latest status condition, he fell asleep. His body began to glow as he started to recover some health. Ash knew rest was dangerous as that would easily negate the advantage Primeape gave them.

"We can't let him get fully healed." Ash warned his dragon type. "Use Thunder!".

Dragonair roared in agreement as her gem glew again, only this time more ferociously. A Black cloud seemed to appear above them, and a giant bolt of lightning shot down striking both Pokemon. Fortunately, Dragonair was prepared for this and ensured the main blast struck Snorlax, not her. While Thunder isn't the most accurate move, it was easy to land since Snorlax is a big target and not even trying to dodge it because he is asleep.

Ash grabbed a spare Pokeball as the lightening consumed the two Pokemon. Despite this doing presumably a lot of damage due to it being a powerful attack from a powerful Pokemon, Snorlax remained asleep. After nearly a minute, the electricity disappeared.

"Go Pokeball!" Ash shouted as he threw the Pokeball towards the two Pokemon.

Dragonair quickly let go of her grip as the Pokeball struck the normal type. A red light engulfed Snorlax and sucked him inside. The Pokeball dropped on the ground as it started to wiggly back and forth vigorously. Dragonair was in a battle stance in case the Sleeping Pokemon decided to make a re-appearance.

The Pokeball began violently wiggling back and forth on the ground. It is clear that Snorlax is trying his hardest to break free. While Snorlax's are very stong naturally, due to this one not having any formal training he isn't quite as strong as one might think. After nearly two minutes the Pokeball stopped and dinged.

"Alright! We just caught, Snorlax!" Ash cheered, with Pikachu and Togepi joining in. He picked the Pokeball up and scanned it with his Pokedex:

 _Snorlax, The Sleeping Pokemon. The final evolved form of Munchlax. It eats nearly 900 Pounds of food every day. It starts nodding off while eating—and continues to eat even while it's asleep. When its belly is full, it becomes too lethargic to even lift a finger, so it is safe to bounce on its belly._

 _Type: Normal_

 _Ability: Thick Fat_

 _Hidden Ability: Gluttony (Note: This hidden ability is unlocked)._

 _Gender: Male_

 _Nature: Relaxed (Note: This nature is unlikely to change due to it being a final evolved form)._

 _Move(s): Tackle, Defence Curl, Amnesia, Lick, Chip Away, Yawn, Body Slam, Rest, Snore, Sleep Talk, Surf_

Suddenly, Ash's Pokedex started vibrating and the screen lit up with images of all of Ash's current on hand Pokemon: Pikachu, Charizard, Muk, Primeape, Dragonair, Lapras & Snorlax. All but Pikachu and Dragonair were lit up since those two were still out of there Pokeballs.

"Please select which Pokemon you wish to send back." The device requested.

Ash looked at the seven images, but he didn't need much thought about who he was sending. With his mind made up, he clicked Primeape's image and he felt the fighting type's Pokeball teleport away. Obviously, Pikachu was staying, and they need Lapras to stay because of getting off the island. Primeape was also very tired and damaged from the training session and battle, but Ash doesn't know when they will reach the next Pokemon centre, so this is the best decision from all perspectives.

"Thank you, Dragonair." Ash thanked Dragonair. He clipped Snorlax's Pokeball to his belt where Primeape's once was. He grabbed the Ultra Ball off his belt and returned his dragon type, returning that to his belt. Drake approached his brother with a smirk and slow clap.

"Well, I never thought I would see the day." Drake chuckled. Ash looked "The day my brother actually battled a Pokemon instead of befriending it join his team.".

"Knock it off." Serena stepped in. "Ash battled Pidgeot back then. And Sandslash as well.". Ash shot her a grateful smile, which she returned with a hug. Drake rolled his eyes before continuing.

"Still, it is a rarity. I guess that means next time I catch a Pokemon I should try to befriend it first." Drake smirked at his brother.

"Isn't that how you caught Cubone?" Ash asked with his own smirk. "Besides, that would truly show you how far you've come with bonding with Pokemon. Especially, one that is a complete stranger.". Drake smiled at his brother and nodded his head at the suggestion. Ruby was the next to approach the group.

"Well it is getting late, so as thanks for stopping Snorlax allow me to offer you all a place for the night." Ruby offered. "We have accommodations on the third island for all the workers. It is the least I can do.".

"But isn't it dangerous to keep Snorlax on the islands?" Ash asked.

"While there is a risk, I am sure our Pokemon can handle it." Drake replied. "Snorlax isn't exactly in fighting condition and with the combination of my Snorlax, Machamp and your Dragonair, we can keep him under control for one night.".

With the decision made Ruby lead the group over to the work boat to take them to the island. None of them seemed to notice little sprouts bursting out of the ground where Ash's new Snorlax terrorised.

* * *

The next morning, the group was on the shoreline with Lapras out of her Pokeball ready to set off again. Ash, Serena, Misty, Drake, Pikachu, Togepi and Cubone were ready to climb onto the transport Pokemon but Ruby was also there with four cloth bags in her hands.

"I must say it again, thanks to all of you for all that you have done for these islands." Ruby thanked. "If you didn't stop it when you did, then it would've likely ate every grape fruit in the area.".

"I should be the one thanking you, because you let us intervene I was able to catch a new Pokemon." Ash replied. "Not to mention Serena also caught a new Pokemon in Jigglypuff.".

"Well we better get going." Drake butted in. "We should be able to reach Kumquat island before sunset, but it will be a tight gap, so we need to get moving soon.".

"Just in time for our birthday, not to mention it being the location of the final Orange League gym." Ash replied excited.

"Well if this is good bye, then from all the works on these islands we have prepared a little something to say thank you." Ruby replied as she handed, Ash, Serena, Misty and Drake each a bag with contained a cut up grape fruit.

"Wow, thanks." Ash excitedly thanked as he popped one of the segments into his mouth, quickly following by giving Pikachu one.

"These grape fruits are delicious." Serena added as she swallowed hers.

"Toge Toge!" Togepi chirped happily from Serena's foot. The honey-blonde girl smiled and kneeled down to the young fairy type, handing the Spike ball Pokemon a segment. Togepi happily accepted the fruit and began to eat it happily with a cheerful smile.

"You didn't have to do that, Serena. Togepi could have shared with me and Pikachu." Ash reassured his girlfriend.

"It's okay, at least I know Togepi likes me enough now to let me feed him and carry him." Serena replied as she picked the fairy type up. "Who knows, maybe he would prefer to join me in contests when the time comes for his training to start.".

"Dada." Togepi reached out for Ash after that suggestion. Ash picked the Spike ball Pokemon off his girlfriend. While Togepi has really warmed up to Serena and is becoming more independent every day, he is also very much a daddy's boy and always will be. "Togepriiiiiii!".

Ash smiled and carried the young fairy type onto Lapras' back. Lapras is still a young Pokemon much like Togepi and while she is slowly opening up to the rest of the group, but she still likes to have the raven-hair boy closest to her. Despite growing up in many ways, she still has a long way to go in other ways. Once he was next to the water ice types head, Pikachu ran up to his trainer. He helped pull Serena up next then Misty, Drake & Cubone joined them before they set sail.

With the group on the move again, with two new team members everyone has their own thoughts. Ash is ready to get training with his new Snorlax, with little over a month before the Orange League starts and also earn his fourth gym badge. Likewise, Serena is ready to start working on an appeals performance and to watch the grand festival which is due to take place the week before the Orange League also at Pummelo stadium. Misty, is yet again on the phone to Rudy but she is still taking her training for the Cerulean gym seriously, on the back of Lapras is the best time for them to talk since they can't really do any training. Drake, has realised the time in the Orange Islands is quickly running out. While his bonding has really come on, he wants to truly test himself by catching a new team member in what Cubone calls 'The Ash Way'. Not to mention, he likely wouldn't be travelling with them to the next region since they would both be competing in the regional league. Although he originally only joined to learn, he has really enjoyed the time in the group and honestly, he isn't sure he can go back to travelling alone.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	15. Drake's Challenge

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the brother's birthday and Drake's chance to test everything he has learnt from Ash. Not much else to this chapter, it is partially based on an episode from the anime but not too much. Also, a bit of comedy (or my attempt at least) with Cubone. I would like to point out, this will be the closest up-date to the one-year anniversary since I started this project. I like to think that over the year my writing has improved but most of all, I would like to thank everyone who has read, followed, favourited and reviewed. It really has kept me writing so thank you. Remember to vote in the latest poll, it will be up until the end of the Power of One arc. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 15: Drake's Challenge_

It is currently night-time, the same day that they left the Grape Fruit Islands. It is also the day before the brother's birthday. They are approaching a sort of city like island, Kumquat Island, on Lapras' back.

"Not long now, Lapras. You have done really well today." Ash praised his water ice type.

"Thanks..." Lapras replied in pants. She has been carrying the group all day at a steady pace. Lapras as a species are very strong swimmers, some of the best on the planet, but Ash's Lapras is still very young meaning this has been quite a challenge for her. This has probably been her longest continuous swim since joining.

"Hmm... So, are you two ready for your birthday tomorrow?" Misty asked the twins. She just ended a phone call with Rudy, since he had to put Mahri to bed. Both brothers looked at each other and shrugged.

"Sure, it isn't that hard." Drake replied simply.

"Don't mind Drake, he isn't a fan of any holiday, really." Ash explained.

"It is just another day, not a big deal." Drake shrugged his shoulders.

"Hehehe, its funny. Despite you two being twins you couldn't be more different." Serena giggled as she rested her head on Ash's shoulder. Both of the brothers smirked as they realised the honey-blonde girl was right.

It wasn't long until before they reached land. Ash thanked and returned Lapras while Drake got up directions to the Pokemon centre. The group made their way over to the centre and once they entered they rented two room since they only had rooms with two beds in left. The girls took one room while the brothers took the other.

Misty walked out of the bathroom connected to the girl's room in her pajama's to find Serena sat on her bed, also in her pajama's doing some sort of wrapping up. When the honey-blonde girl saw her friend, she smiled which Misty returned.

"I guess you're putting the finishing touches on the boys presents." Misty guessed as she sat down on her own bed.

"Yeah, it took me a while to figure out what to get them both." Serena replied as she slides the two wrapped presents onto her bedside table. "I wanted to get Ash something special after the ring he gave me last year and as for Drake... I couldn't think of where to start looking.".

"I know what ya mean, Drake doesn't really let his guard down, so it is hard to know what he likes." Misty replied. "Still, thanks to Rudy I got them both something I think they will like.".

"What did you get them?" Serena asked.

"You'll just need to wait and see until tomorrow." Misty replied with a wink. "Goodnight Serena.".

"Night Misty." Serena replied as both the girls lay down to go sleep.

* * *

The next morning, the two-brothers raised out of their bed and got dressed. The movements woke up both Pikachu & Cubone who each greeted their respective trainers with a ' _good morning & happy birthday_'. Togepi, on the other hand, was still sleeping soundly.

"Happy birthday." Ash greeted his brother once they were both ready.

"Back at ya." Drake replied.

Before either of them could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. It didn't take a genius to work out it would be one of the girls to greet them. The other one is likely getting a table for them in the cafeteria.

"Come in, we're decent." Ash called out as he slipped his back pack onto his back, and picked up the still sleeping fairy type. Togepi slowly started to blink awake as he saw Serena walk through the door.

"Toge Toge." Togepi chirped as a sign to let everyone know that he is now awake.

"Morning guys and happy birthday." Serena greeted as she walked in. Despite addressing both of them, she walked up to Ash and planted a small peck on his cheek before looping her arm around his. Of course, Ash was holding Togepi, so she couldn't hold his hand, but Serena didn't mind. "Come on, Misty has got us a table.".

Serena lead the way to the last of the travelling group. Due to this being a busy Pokemon centre and not having much time, the table Misty picked didn't have a lot of decorations, but she had got everyone their breakfast and it had a pile of presents on the table.

The group sat down with Ash and Serena on one side, while Drake joined Misty on the other. They made small talk while eating their breakfast as they didn't want it to go cold. Ash had his typical full cooked breakfast. Drake had his typical coffee & toast. Serena had an omlet and Misty had a bowl of cereal. The group also made sure to feed the Pokemon, excepted waited until they were outside to feed the two Snorlax as there isn't much room in the cafeteria.

"Well, now that that's done. Guess we should move onto the presents." Ash suggested as he took out a neatly wrapped present out of his pocket. It was a small box shape and he placed it on the table in front of Drake.

Drake raised an eyebrow at it, as if trying to think about what it could be. He didn't spend much time thinking as he likely wouldn't get his answer. He lifted the top of the present and pulled out a golden coloured bell with a sort of red band around them.

"It's a sooth bell. I picked it up on Navel Island." Ash explained. "The sound it releases is meant to sooth any Pokemon and help the bond between trainer & Pokemon.".

Drake smiled a thank you and placed it in his pocket. While he is the type of person who likes hard facts so the idea of a bell making Pokemon friendlier is a little silly, he knows Ash believes all that stuff. Still it is a really nice thought. He pulled a book out of his bag and placed it in front of Ash. It was titled 'An Elite Training Guild'.

"It is a training guild written by Agetha. It contains all of Kanto's elite four's training programs." Drake explained.

Ash looked at the book with a bright smile. He has always dreamed of getting actual training techniques from the elite four but when he met them at the Indigo League, he knew he couldn't ask because of situation. Little did he know there was a book with this exact thing. Not to mention, this is the first present Drake has given him. While not surprised Drake got something educational, it still means a lot that he did get him something.

"Thanks Drake." Ash thanked as he put his new book into his bag.

"Okay, I'll go next." Misty decided as she placed two CD discs on the table.

One in front of each brother. The one in front of Ash read: TM 25 - Thunder while the one in front of Drake read: TM 26 - Earthquake. These are two of the most powerful moves each brother representative best brother can learn, those being Pikachu and Cubone obviously.

"Wow, thanks Misty." Ash thanked as he was clearly excited.

"Yeah, thanks a lot." Drake added.

Pikachu jumped onto the table in front of Ash while Cubone mimicked his actions and jumped onto the table in front of Drake. Each brother took the discs out of their cases and placed them on the representative Pokemon's forehead.

"Rudy let me have them, as a gym leader he has a good collection of TM's." Misty explained. "But he did warn, they are the older models, so they break after one use.".

"I can't wait to use this move in the Orange League." Ash excitedly spoke, as he placed the TM back into its case.

"Hold your Rapidash's Ash. These are both very powerful moves, it is likely neither Pikachu or Cubone will be able to use them straight away." Drake explained. Ash looked at his brother for some sort of explanation. "Thunder, Thunderbolt. They all work by discharging the electricity built up in the user's body. In Pikachu's case that is through the electric sacks in his cheeks. He can only release the right amount of power for their size. He won't be able to unleash the voltage for Thunder.".

"Aww man..." Ash sighed. He was looking forward to showing off his best buddie's power with this new move, but he isn't going to force Pikachu to use it as that could lead to a serious injury to the user. Besides, Dragonair is able to use that move if it is really needed.

"Come on, Ash. Leaf sent you both these." Serena pointed out. She moved two presents in front of the two brothers, the main difference being the wrapping paper as Ash's was in green paper while Drakes was yellow... And also had a heart pattern. Needless to say, both Drake and Cubone had massive sweat drops.

"Should I fear for my life...?" Drake asked by whispering in the ground types ear.

The Orphan Pokemon slowly nodded his head to answer his trainers question.

Both of the brothers opened their present from the hyper active girl at the same time. They kind of figured it would be the same thing considering it is the same shape and size. Once the presents were unwrapped, they were revealed to be a book titled 'Kanto's Kitchen Tip for On the Road'. She knew Ash was wanting to learn to cook and despite knowing how to cook, Drake was far from an expert, so this made sense for both brothers.

"This is great, we will need to call Leaf to thank her later." Ash exclaimed in his usual excited tone. At that one statement, Drake dropped the present on the table as the others turned towards him. Ash had to admit, he has never seen a bigger look of fear cross his face before. Not even on New Island all that time back.

"C-call her?" Drake managed to stutter out.

"You can do that later, first your mum sent these." Misty pointed out as she placed the presents on the table. The two wrapped parcels were the same shape and size, so it is obvious they have the same thing. Reading the tags stuck on, it is also labled 'love from mum & dad' which isn't anything new.

The two brothers opened their presents to see new cases for their Poke-gears. Ash's was blue while Drake's was red. Each of them also had an update code to scan into their devices to receive the latest system updates.

"Huh, well I wasn't expecting this." Drake spoke up first. "Last time I checked, mum wasn't very tech-knowledgeable.".

"Still, it is nice of her and dad to send them. We need to call her to say thanks." Ash replied.

"Of course." Drake replied. He has absolutely no issues with calling her as she was the only person he would call regularly back when travelling alone. Of course, they will also try to call their dad, but they can't be certain that they will get through to him.

"But you still have my presents left." Serena pointed out. She handed Drake a present before placing a small box in front of Ash.

"Thanks." Drake replied simply.

"Yeah Serena, thank yo..." Ash tried to thank but was cut off as Serena stopped his speech with a kiss. Drake sweat dropped at the sight, he will never understand those types of relationships, after all kissing can't be very hygienic. After about half a minute Serena pulled away.

"That was the first part, so go and open the second." Serena told her boyfriend.

Ash was bright red from the surprise kiss, while he isn't embarrassed about doing that with her, he isn't so fond of being in a public place and in front of everyone. He regained his composure, and opened the box. Inside was a golden ring similar to the one he gave her for her birthday last year. It had Ash's name engraved around the rim and the top had a small gem stone but this one was a ruby rather than a sapphire.

"Whoa, Serena it's beautiful." Ash gasped as he examined his present. He then surprised Serena by giving her a kiss back before she could respond. While she was surprised, she wasted no time in leaning to the kiss to return it. Once they parted, Serena took the ring out and placed it on her boyfriend's hand.

Drake rolled his eyes at his brother and Serena. He has nothing against her, but he isn't a fan of the shows of affection. Due to the difference in the shape of the presents it is obvious that she didn't get them the same thing, but Drake doesn't mind, it is obvious she would get something a little more personal for her boyfriend.

Drake quickly undid the wrapping paper and revealed a collection of three Ultra Balls. He smiled at them as he examined each one before placing them in his backpack.

"Thanks Serena." Drake thanked his brother's girlfriend.

"So, should we call mum and Leaf?" Ash asked his brother. "I think the video phones should be free.".

"Actually, could you call them on your Poke-gears?" Misty asked.

"We asked Nurse Joy and she said there is a festival going on in town today, so we want to get going before it gets to crowded." Serena explained. The brothers agreed and once they were ready the group set out for the festival.

* * *

"Bye mum!" The twins called out through Drake's Pokegear. The group had just arrived at the festival the girls mentioned, on the way to this event the boys called both Leaf and Delia to say thanks for their presents.

The festival itself was very lively. It reminded the group of the sort of market fair which was just outside of Fuchsia city back when Ash and Serena went on their first date. Different stands could be seen.

"This looks great, I bet there are some strong trainers around here." Ash spoke up excitedly.

"Come on, Ash. Enjoy yourself, I am sure you can switch off for at least a couple of hours." Serena replied.

"Okay, but I really want to start Snorlax's training." Ash replied. "I was hoping I could use him in my last gym battle, but considering how it went with Muk back in Celadon City.".

"Ya know Ash, I wouldn't dismiss the idea." Drake pointed out. "We are ahead of schedule and could spend up to a week here before needing to move on if we want to get to Pummelo in time for the Grand Festival. Why not put your gym battle off for a few days, that should get Snorlax in position for a gym battle?".

"Sounds like a plan." Ash replied.

"Well then let's go." Serena replied as she dragged Ash off towards a petting attraction. The Pokemon in this exhibit were similar to those found in the safari zone back in Kanto such as: Tauros, Rhyhorn, Ponyta, Nidoran, Nidorino and many others.

Misty also took her leave as she went towards a water Pokemon show. They knew of this because on the way they past a poster which showed it would focus around different water types like: Seadra, Dewgong, Slowbro, Poliwhirl, Vaporeon and the star would be a Blastoise.

With everyone else gone on their own adventures, Drake and Cubone started to walk through the festival. While it is his birthday, Drake honestly prefers his time alone with just Cubone and his other Pokemon. Sure, he is getting on great with Ash, but he is an introvert by nature. Honestly, this isn't normally his type of thing but since he is trying new things like bonding he might as well check this out as well. Who knows what is happening.

Soon Drake and Cubone made their way to a fenced off field. The field was filled with people of ages ranging between six and seven-teen, riding Ponyta. There were also many Ponyta on the field as well. It was clear this was a sort of riding experience, Drake new Serena's mum has run a few of these but with Rhyhorn.

Near the centre of field was a woman in her mid-twenties, with blue hair, a green top, blue skirt and a Rapidash by her side. It doesn't take a genius to work out she is the head of this event. Drake and Cubone made their way over towards this woman.

"Hello." Drake greeted as the trainer and Pokemon approached the women.

"How'd there, partner. I'm Lana." The women introduced herself. "Lana Laramie, and I am the instructor around these parts. I am guess'n ya'll be look'n to ride some of my Ponyta.".

"Um yes, if you wouldn't mind." Drake replied.

"Not at all." Lana replied as she looked around. "Sorry partner, but it seems like all my Ponyta have a partner right now. One should be free in twenty quick'n if ya'll don't mind waiting.".

"I don't m..." Drake replied but was cut off by his ground type.

"Cu, Cubone!" Cubone called out. Both Drake and Lana looked down to the pure ground type, who was pointing to the far corner of the ranch with his bone. Looking in that direction, Drake spotted a rather small Ponyta by its self. Looking kind of scared.

"What about that Ponyta?" Drake asked.

"Oh, that darling is one of my Rapidash's off spring." Lana replied as she stroked the Rapidash's mane. "Ya see, that one is big enough to be ridden but she is very timid. Ponyta's flames on burn others if the Pokemon wants them to, since that one is so scared of everyone no-one is able to ride her without getting burnt.".

"hmm..." Drake replied deep in thought. "So, I wouldn't be able to ride her... Would you mind if I try, at least?".

"Sure thing, knock yourself out." Lana laughed. "Just don't come cry'n to me when you get a burnt behind.".

Drake nodded in understanding at the proposal and started to walk over to the timid fire type with Cubone by his side. As soon as it became evident to Ponyta that the trainer and Pokemon were approaching her, she took a few steps back in fear until she hit the fence. Seeing this Drake stopped about two feet away from her.

"Hey Ponyta... I'm, not going to hurt you I promise." Drake spoke in his most calm voice. "Lana mentioned that you were timid, and I wanted to come and chat with you. Ya see, I am a trainer and right now I'm trying to learn how to bond and interact with Pokemon, so I thought maybe we could get to know each other.".

"Cubone bone." Cubone added to try and add some weight to his best friend's statement.

"Ta." Ponyta quietly replied. Cubone maybe a few gestured towards Drake which he understood a little better.

"Okay... I am not going to try anything." Drake replied as he sat down. This caused Ponyta to slightly relax but she still kept her distance. "I just want to help, if I can. I won't do anything you don't want me to.".

"Ponyta." Ponyta sighed in response.

"I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and say that you don't like being all timid." Drake spoke to the fire type. Ponyta looked at the ground with Drake's guess, she hates her shyness and would love a friend. "It's okay Ponyta, I had a personality trait that I didn't much care for. But now I am trying to overcome it, and you can two.".

Now he had Ponyta's attention, is there really away for her to get over this shyness? She honestly doesn't know why she is so timid, but she also has been, having a mother who is a world champion racer hasn't helped matters either. She would do anything to get over this weakness of hers. Drake could tell just by the pleading looking in the fire horse's eyes that she is desperate for a way to overcome her nature. Thinking for a moment, he reached into his pocket.

"Here Ponyta, take a look at this." Drake showed the fire type the sooth bell Ash gave him earlier. "This is a sooth bell, it is meant to release a sound which calms a Pokemon down and helps them bond regardless of their nature. I don't know if I believe it, but it can't hurt, do you want to try it?".

"Pony Ponyta." Ponyta over-eagerly replied.

Drake smiled at the fire type in a way to train and calm her as he stood up. Despite wanting to try this thing which might help her cure her timid nature, seeing the boy stand up put her back on edge. Drake took a step closer and noticed Ponyta flinched in response.

"Ponyta... I am going to need to attach it to you." Drake explained slowly. "I know your scared but for it to have the right effect, it needs to be close enough... May I?".

The fire type looked into Drake's eyes as tears welled up. She is terrified at the prospect of this boy getting any closer, sure he seems nice enough and that Cubone speaks highly of him, but she is just so shy. No. She doesn't want to be like this anymore. This is a real chance for her to get rid of this crippling weakness and she has to take it. Mustering up the brave face she could, she answered Drake's question with a nod of the head.

Drake took a few of slow small steps until he was right in front of her. He was doing his friendliest smile he could manage and kneeled in front of the fire type. It was painfully obvious that Ponyta was using her every muscle to not run away but she was still terrified. Working as quickly as he could, Drake started to attach the sooth bell to Ponyta's collar. As the seconds past, Drake noticed that the temperature was slowly raising, and he remembered what Lara mentioned before about a Ponyta's mane and tail flames. Once the bell was secure, Drake quickly but cautiously stood up and backed away which seemed to ease Ponyta slightly.

"There you go, Ponyta. That wasn't so bad was it?" Drake spoke calmly. He honestly has no idea where that question came from, it was just like his mouth started speaking without his brains content. Ash said once you get into it, bonding becomes second nature but is this what he really meant?

After regaining her composure, Ponyta answered the question with a hesitant shake of the head. The slight movement caused the sooth bell to chime and the relaxing sound echoed to the Pokemon within ear shot. Ponyta relaxed once it her the sound and was filled with confidence. She looked at Drake again, this is the boy who has helped her so far. Taking a deep breath, she took a hesitant step towards Drake. The bell range once more and while she would normally start to panick at the close proximity of Drake, the chimes were keeping her calm.

"See Ponyta, it is working already." Drake spoke up with a smile on his face. "What do you say, wanna take a walk around the field?".

Normally, the fire type would be too shy to move from this isolate area but each time she moves the sooth bell's chimes are keeping her calm. Since she isn't being as affected by her crippling shyness, the idea of moving about actually sounds nice. With her mind made up, Ponyta nodded her head to answer Drake. Cubone jumped up onto Drake's shoulder as he started to walk with Ponyta at his side.

" _Well how bout that_?" Lara thought to herself as she watched Drake walk and talk with the timid fire type.

* * *

"Um... Pikachu, did you tell Togepi he could do that?" Ash asked his starter.

After going around the festival with Serena, Ash decided to start his training with Snorlax. Right now, the normal type is fast asleep and Togepi is bouncing on his stomach like he is on a trampoline. The Spikeball Pokemon is chirping happily as he goes up and down and up and down and up and down...

Pikachu tried to casually walk away whilst whistling a generic tone as to not draw attention to himself. Unfortunately, that only raised Ash's suspicious of the electric type but before the raven-hair boy could question the mouse Pokemon any further, Togepi bounced the side of Snorlax's stomach so he went flying away from the sleeping Pokemon. Ash reacted instinctively and caught the fairy type mid-air. At least the Spikeball Pokemon didn't get hurt.

"Well, now all I have to do is wake Snorlax up." Ash sighed as he looked at his next obstacle.

* * *

"I bet your really fast and strong Ponyta." Drake commented. The Fire Horse had been watching the other Ponyta running around with a person on their back practising some for what seemed to be a sort of race. "Do you want to give it ago? I mean, I'm not an expert but maybe we could try it together.".

"Pony Ponyta." Ponyta nodded with a friendly smile. They have been walking around the field for half an hour and have been talking. Cubone has been helping Drake to understand what the fire type is saying, but this is the first person she actually feels comfortable around.

"Great." Drake smiled as he turned back to his ground type. "Sorry buddy but I don't think you will be able to ride with us, will you be alright on your own?".

"Cubone Bone." Cubone replied with a mischievous smirk. Before Drake could ask any questions, the ground type jumped up and swiped a Pokeball off Drake's belt. The birthday boy looked at the Pokeball in question, only to find it was Jolteon's.

"You wanna play with Jolteon?" Drake raised an eyebrow with uncertainty.

"Cu Cubone." Cubone smiled a little to friend before walking away with the Pokeball in hand. Drake sighed as he turned back to the fire type, while not completely sure he trusts Cubone he knows Jolteon is responsible and won't let him get into too much trouble.

"Pony?" Ponyta questioned.

"Don't worry about them, Ponyta. I am sure they will be fine." Drake replied as he approached fire horse. He could still feel a little heat coming off the flames, so he scratched under her chin in a way to comfort her. "Are you sure you want to do this? I won't make you do anything you're not comfortable with.".

"Ponyta." Ponyta nodded again with a determined look in her eye. She has always heard from her mother about how fun races really are, but she has always been too shy to partake. This maybe be her only chance to actually race and she can't pass it up.

Drake felt the heat from her mane and tail disappear, hesitantly he stroked down her neck to confirm this. Now that he is sure Ponyta is ready for him, he tried to remember how Ash got on his Tauros back at Cissy's gym or when he has seen Ms Yvonne get on her Rhyhorn. While shaking and far from perfect, he was able to get onto the fire type first time.

Ponyta had to adjust her footing because of the new weight on her back but after about ten seconds they were stable. Drake grabbed the reins which were already on the fire horse Pokemon and very slowly the two of them started to trot around the field.

" _Well, what do ya know. The little fella's gone an done it_." Lara thought as she watched Drake and Ponyta from afar. She looked to her oldest friend, and saw a smile on Rapidash's face. "You think what I'm think?".

"Dash." Rapidash nodded firmly.

"Well then, we better put 'em to the test." Lara smirked.

Lara and Rapidash made their way over to Drake and Ponyta. Who didn't notice them approaching because they were facing the other way. They have been at this for about five minutes and are pretty comfortable with a little walk.

"Well, that's a sight I didn't expect to see today." Lara spoke up causing Ponyta (and thus Drake since he is riding her) to turn and face her.

"Hehehe, well we thought it would be fun." Drake sheepishly replied.

"Quit ya belly aching. I ain't got complaints." Lara replied. "In fact, I have a proposition for ya's.".

"Really?" Drake questioned.

"Pony?" Ponyta questioned.

"Ya see, I'll be straight with ya's. I wasn't so sure about what to do with Ponyta here." Lara started. "She has been part of the riding event for three months, and not once has someone been able to ride her... Until now.".

"Right." Drake replied as thoughtfully as he could whilst trying not to fall of the fire type.

"In the wild, Ponyta's leave their mother's side shortly after birth and that time has long since passed for this one." Lara continued. "I have seen her behaviour in other Ponyta, but not all of 'em find a suitable partner. I know she won't be able to ride with another person like she is with you.".

"What are you saying?" Drake asked.

"I was just bout to release Ponyta, into the wild. But seeing as she has opened up with ya, I have a better idea." Lara explained. "Instead of sending her of on her own, I want her to join you.".

"Really!?" Drake replied with evident shock.

"Ta!?" Ponyta replied in the same manner as Drake.

"Really." Lara replied. "But ya's need to do one thing first. We are holding a race this afternoon and anyone can enter with my Ponyta's here. She is my best friend's little girl after all, I want you to prove to her this is the right decision by competing.".

"Um, well I'm up for it. What about you Ponyta?" Drake asked.

The fire type had a look of torment on her face. She was a champions daughter, the only one of Rapidash's children here since the others have gone off to do their own thing. She has had a lot of pressure to live up to her mother's legacy. Those that show the most promise, like her siblings are sent away for special training and most of them are champions in their own right. She isn't so sure that racing is for her but like Lara just said, if not a racer she will be released into the wild. Honestly, with all things considered, she would love to travel with Drake. He has been so nice and if today has proven anything, he would be her best help to overcome her crippling shyness. With her decision made she looked both Lara and her mother down with determination. She nodded her head to answer the question.

* * *

Ash had just spent the best part of an hour trying to wake his Snorlax up. His other Pokemon have been put onto their own training sessions and he hasn't even spoke with Snorlax yet. Drake has made training his Snorlax look so easy, like any other Pokemon. What is he doing wrong?

He has tried everything to wake the normal type up: Shouting, shaking, bucket of cold water. Nothing works. Where did Drake get to anyway? He said he would help him train Snorlax. Normally he wouldn't give a festival like this a second glance so, where is he?

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen this is a great day for the festival race. We have fifth-teen Ponyta lined up ready to get this race underway." The announce announced as the crowd cheered. "The course is one circuit of the training fields perimeter, and the winner will be given the festival trophy.".

Among the Ponyta was Drake on his new friend. Looking at the competition, he formed a massive sweat drop. Some of these people are skilled riders, he was observing them since being given this challenge. How is he going to beat them? He wants to win so Ponyta isn't left in the wild to fend for herself but what are the actual chances of him winning? He hates to admit it, but he can't see this end anyway but badly.

Along with the Ponyta, a late arrive joined the race. It was Cubone who was stationed on top of Jolteon. The electric type eeveelution sweat dropped as this wasn't what he had in mind when the ground type mentioned a race.

"Now remember competitors, no attacks are permitted during the race." The announced continued. "Three... Two... One... Start!".

With the race underway, the Ponyta's sped ahead each trying to get an early lead. Well, all but the one Drake was riding. The fast movements scared her, and she froze in her place. Lucky, she was able to control herself enough to not burn her rider.

"Shhh, it's okay Ponyta. Their gone." Drake whispered to the fire type. "Let's get going... At your pace, alright.".

The fire horse Pokemon eased up at the comfort and began to slowly trot across the track. They were about a third of the field behind the others. Drake realised it was practically impossible for them to win now but maybe if they finished it would help Ponyta with her confidence issues and convince Lara to keep her around.

In the head of the race was Jolteon and Cubone. Being much smaller than the Ponyta's worked to their advantage as they were able to zig in and out of their feet and not get cut off easily. As they duo pulled away Cubone looked back to second and third place. Sticking his tongue out he also hit his own behind as a way to taunt the other competitors.

"What's this!? It seems we have a sixteenth entry, which is a Jolteon with a Cubone as its rider." The announced questioned. "This is a first for me but nothing in the rules says that they can't compete. Provided they follow the no-attacks rule.".

Jolteon kicked it up a notch, this ground type is so embarrassing, and he wants to end this mess of a race. This is the last time he lets anyone ride on top of him, he has a love for speed, but he also has his dignity. Man, this is embarrassing.

Cubone and Jolteon were the first to cross the finishing line as the crowd cheered for the unique racers. They were soon followed by the other Ponyta's. Drake was half way around the field, being the only duo left. Despite this, Drake wanted to finish the race. Even if they came last, it was just the right thing to.

Before long Drake and Ponyta trotted across the finish line. By the time they finished the top three finishers were being presented with their medals for the second and third place while Cubone was given the first-place trophy. It was nothing massive but enough for the ground type.

Drake jumped of Ponyta, not having any reason to get involved with the celebrations he started to stroke Ponyta's neck while talking calmly to her. He was actually quite upset though. He never had any intentions of build Ponyta up with a bond only to break it back down, nor did he want to part but what could he do?

"How'd their partner." Lara spoke behind the raven-hair boy. Drake turned towards the women who seemed happy, did she not want him to take Ponyta and if so then why did she bring it up. Actually, why would she set a challenge where it is practically impossible for them to win. "Why the long faces?".

"Well, we lost the race and..." Drake started to explain but was cut off.

"Ya'll didn't expect to win, did ya's?" Lara asking in an almost laughing voice. Drake didn't feel a need to respond to the clearly rhetorical question. "This test was never about winning, it was to show old Rapidash you'd take care of Ponyta. You supported her when scared and encouraged her to finish.".

"So, you mean that..." Drake spoke with a hopeful tone but was cut off again.

"Right ya's are." Lara smiled. "Feel free to catch Ponyta when you're ready.".

"Catch?" Drake questioned. "You mean Ponyta doesn't already have a Pokeball?".

"Course not, if I kept the Ponyta in Pokeballs I could only bring five of them with me." Lara explained. "Rapidash is the only one I have a Pokeball for, the others are practically wild Pokemon.".

Drake didn't really have anything else to say so he turned towards Ponyta. He reached into his bag and pulled out one of the Ultra Balls he received earlier. This was the first capture since changing his strategy. If you don't count Cubone then this is the first Pokemon he caught that he never planned on.

"Ponyta, if you want to I would be honoured if you'd..." Drake tried to offer but Ponyta didn't wait for him. The fire type pressed her nose against the centre of the Ultra Ball and was sucked in. The ball instantly dinged, and Drake pulled his Pokedex out to scan his new team member:

 _Ponyta, The Fire Horse Pokemon. Ponyta is very weak at birth. It can barely stand up. This Pokémon becomes stronger by stumbling and falling to keep up with its parent. Its legs grow strong while it chases after its parent. It runs in fields and mountains all day._

 _Type: Fire_

 _Ability: Run Away_

 _Hidden Ability: Flame Body (Note: This hidden ability is unlocked)._

 _Gender: Female_

 _Nature: Timid (Note: This nature could change when this Pokemon evolves)_

 _Move(s): Growl, Tackle, Tail Whip, Ember_

 _Held Item: Sooth Bell (this item is known for releasing soothing sounds and helps the Pokemon bond with their trainer)_

Suddenly, Drake's Pokedex started vibrating and the screen lit up with images of all of Drake's current on hand Pokemon: Charizard, Jolteon, Victreebel, Machamp, Cubone, Snorlax and Ponyta. Both Cubone's and Jolteon's pictures were blacked out as they are currently out of their Pokeballs.

"Please select which Pokemon you wish to send back." The device requested.

Drake looked at the five remaining images, he made a swift decision and clicked Charizard's Pokeball. There was no real reason why he chose the fire flying type over the others. He just didn't want to waste by returning Jolteon, he also didn't want to send Ponyta straight away and obviously Cubone was staying so it just came down to: Charizard, Victreebel, Machamp and Snorlax. In the end, he didn't see the need for having two fire types right now.

"Come on out, Ponyta." Drake released his newly caught fire horse Pokemon as he closed his Pokedex and put it away. Unlike Ash who typically throws his Pokeballs into the air to release them, Drake simply holds his out in front of him. In a flash of light, Ponyta appeared in front of her new trainer and Drake clipped the Ultra Ball to his belt in the position where Charizard's Pokeball was. "Welcome to the team, Ponyta.".

"Ponyta." Ponyta smiled before stepping forward and nuzzling her head into Drake's stomach. Drake was taken by surprise with this, he has seen several of Ash's Pokemon being affectionate but the only one of his who has shown some type of affection was Cubone, and the ground type has long since grown out of it. Soon the shock wore off and Drake returned the show off affection by rubbing her head.

"Ponyta, I am going to introduce you to my other Pokemon. I know you've already met Cubone but there are several others." Drake explained. "But first I want to reunite with the people I'm travelling with. So, before we go, I think you should say goodbye to your mother.".

Ponyta didn't make a noise but slowly stopped the show of affection. She knew that this time would come and even though she is excited to start her new life with Drake, she will miss her mother. Hesitantly, Ponyta turned towards Lara and Rapidash. The fire type reluctantly trotted over to her mother.

Drake smiled as he watched the mother and daughter say goodbye but soon something else drew his attention. His electric type appeared at his feet with his Pokeball in mouth, not looking very happy. Not making a sound, Jolteon dropped the Pokeball and pressed his nose against the centre to return himself. Drake looked confused as he picked the Pokeball back up and clipped it to his belt. He would likely need Ash to translate if he wanted to get to the bottom of this.

"Cubone." The ground type's voice drew Drake's attention once again. Cubone stood just in front of his trainer holding the first-place trophy and a smug look. No doubt Jolteon's unhappiness has something to do with being ridden by Cubone. He will need to deal with this later.

"Congrates, Cubone." Drake approached the Orphan Pokemon. He walked over and picked the ground type up. "Let's go and see the others.". Ponyta heard what Drake said and returned to his side. With one final goodbye, the trio started to walk back towards the Pokemon centre, and he put Cubone's trophy into his bag.

* * *

"Man... This has got to be our least productive training session ever." Ash sighed as he leaned against the sleeping Pokemon. He has sent all his other Pokemon to Nurse Joy for a check-up after they had a productive training session but Snorlax hasn't even woken up.

From the distance, Ash noticed three figures walking towards him. One was his brother, with Cubone on his shoulder. The weird one was a Ponyta. Ash's twin brother appeared in front of him in a short amount of time.

"Ponyta, this is my brother Ash. And his newly caught Snorlax." Drake introduced. "Ash, this is Ponyta. She has joined my team. She is a little timid but is really nice.".

"Nice to meet you, Ponyta." Ash reached out to pet the fire type.

Ponyta panicked when she saw the hand moving towards her, while she is sure Drake's brother is nice she is still a very timid and sky Pokemon. She was quick to retreat and hid behind Drake's back. The raven-hair boy turned towards his new team member.

"It's okay, Ponyta. Ash isn't going to hurt you." Drake spoke soothingly, also softly hitting the sooth bell to help calm her down. It didn't take Ponyta long to return to a calm state. "Why do you rest in your Pokeball for now and we can introduce the others later.".

The fire horse Pokemon nodded as she liked the sound of that. Drake grabbed her Ultra Ball and returned her before clipping the Ultra Ball back onto his back. He turned back to Ash who was wearing a bright smile, never has he seen Drake like that. Drake rolled his eyes in response.

"How did your training go?" Drake asked, changing the subject before it even started.

"It didn't... Not with Snorlax at least." Ash frowned. "I couldn't even get him to wake up.".

"Probably because Snorlax are very stubborn Pokemon." Drake replied with a smirk. "You're not going to like to hear this, but you need to show them who is in charge. To wake them up, don't just ask nicely, use your other Pokemon to wake him up. Only once he knows that you call the shots will you be able to start training.".

"Hang on, Sandslash was also stubborn and disobedient but I didn't have to attack him to show who was boss." Ash replied angrily. "If I did, that would've only made the situation worse.".

"But Sandslash's attitude was man-made, by nature they are a calm and tame species." Drake replied. "Just like by nature, Snorlax's are stubborn. Combine that with their laziness and until they know who is in charge, you won't be able to keep them awake long enough to train. Let alone long enough for a battle.".

"... Okay fine." Ash sighed. Knowing Drake has studied how to raise a Snorlax specifically, since it was part of his original plan for Kanto, Ash knew Drake was more knowledgeable then him. Plus, the reason they are travelling together was, so they could learn from each other, Ash would be an idiot not to take his advice now.

"Good." Drake replied. "We can start training tomorrow. It is getting late anyway.".

"Snorlax return." Ash recalled his sleeping Pokemon and the two brothers started to walk back towards the Pokemon centre.

"Oh, and Ash." Drake looked at his twin brother. "Happy birthday.".

As the day came to a close, the two brothers were happy with how it turned out. For Drake, it was a chance to test out everything he has been learning from Ash and he made a brand-new friend in Ponyta. It will be weird to train her, since he hasn't looked into her species specifically but that just comes with the fact that his original plan has come to an end. Just like with learning to bond, this will be a whole new experience but definitely worth it.

Ash, while not so happy about how training with Snorlax has started is happy about the progress he has made with Drake. Compared to their last birthday, they are actually talking and getting on. Based on how they were this time last year, things could be better and now he is ready to win the Orange League.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	16. Ash VS Luana: Partnership

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the final gym battle before the Orange League. It will also have another league competitor show up, not a major appearance, just a cameo. I have changed this gym a fair bit but not as much as some of the other gyms. Also, the four Pokemon Ash uses are the only ones he hasn't used yet, as each of his Pokemon by the end of this chapter would've took part in one Orange League gym. Remember to vote in the latest poll, it will be up until the end of the Power of One arc. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 16: Ash VS Luana: Partnership_

The two Snorlax's are across from each other, it has been three days since the brother's birthday and each day Ash has been training hard with not only his Snorlax but all his Pokemon. Drake has been helping Ash train Snorlax. While it was a slow start, Snorlax is proving to be one strong Pokemon.

"Good job Snorlax, you'll be great in the gym battle tomorrow." Ash praised his normal type.

"Return Snorlax." Drake recalled his normal type. Without another word, he started to walk towards the Pokemon centre.

"You are stopping already?" Ash asked his brother.

"It is night time already." Drake pointed out. For the first time in hours, Ash looked into the sky and noticed that the moon was already in place of the sun. "Besides I haven't given Ponyta her brush today.".

Ash smirked as he watched his brother walk back into the centre, before they started travelling together never would he have thought that Drake would be so diligent to brush one of his Pokemon. Of course, Ash has a few Pokemon that like that sort of thing from time to time but Drake has made a point to brush Ponyta every day since he caught her. It is actually quite a sweet thing to see.

Ash was brought out of his thoughts by his stomach growling. He sighed as he realised he was so focused on training that he skipped dinner, turning towards his normal type, he found Snorlax fast asleep.

"Well done, Snorlax. Sleep well." Ash recalled his Snorlax before making his way to the cafeteria in the Pokemon centre.

* * *

The next morning the group is walking through the streets of Kumquat island. It was around ten in the morning and the sun was shining. They got the gyms location from the resident Nurse Joy and are on their way over there right now.

"So, Ash, who are you planning on using?" Misty asked.

"Well I have prepared Dragonair, Muk, Snorlax and Charizard for the gym." Ash answered. "I am hoping I can use all of them.".

"I wouldn't get my hopes up, Ash. Most gyms run on a three on three format." Drake explained. "But you could be in luck, since Cissy ran a five on five format.".

"I'm surprised you don't have any objections to Ash using Snorlax, Drake." Misty spoke up. "I mean, you were so subtle about your thoughts back to when he used Muk in the Celadon gym.".

"But back then, Muk hadn't even been caught for a full day." Drake explained. "Snorlax maybe new but they are strong as a species and he has been training hard these last few days. I think he is ready for a gym challenger, maybe even to go against one of the other league competitors.".

"But you don't think he would be good in the champion battle?" Ash asked, knowing that if he makes it then he will be facing the champion in a six on six match.

"Well, not really. Considering the only Pokemon we know he has is a Dragonite, we know he is to be taken seriously." Drake explained. "Before you decided on your team for him, you need to get to that battle and not to mention look up to see which other Pokemon he has been known to use.".

"How do we find stuff like that out?" Ash asked.

"Hmm, I'll show you when we make it for Pummelo Stadium. When the grand festival is on should leave a lot of training hours for the league." Drake explained. "For now, just focus on your gym battle. No point in getting to far ahead of yourself before you need to.".

The group continued walking across the coast line of Kumquat Island as they made their way towards where the gym is supposed to be located. Although something weird started to happen, the tranquil atmosphere was replaced by what sounded like a heard of Tauros stampeding.

"SONNY BOY!" A female voice rang out across the island.

"What was that?" Misty asked.

The question was soon answered as the stampeding sound grew louder and what looked to be a middle-aged woman came charging towards them. The women was quite large and had medium length red hair. She was clearly very excited, and was aiming straight for the group.

"SON! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" The women shouted as she continued to dash towards the group.

Now the group were both confused and scared. They were the only people around so what is this women on about? Unfortunately, their confusion stopped their instincts from telling them to move before it was too late. The women enter the group and knocked Drake away, along with Cubone. The two girls were able to move to the side to avoid the same fate. Pikachu was able to tackle Togepi who was walking by himself next to the girls as well. Ash tried to join the girls, but it was too late, he was soon being smoothed by a massive hug from the women. This only added to the groups confusion as Ash struggled to escape.

"I am so happy to see you again! You have no idea how happy I am that you've returned!" The women cried as she continued to smoother Ash. "My love! My world! My pride! My joy! My heart! My son!". Ash continued to struggle and soon pushed his face out of the women's stomach.

"Urg, excuse me... Not to be rude... But who are you?" Ash asked as he tried to catch his breath from the smothering.

"What!?" The women exclaimed as she pulled Ash into another massive hug. "Oh Travis, don't you recognise your own mummykins? You really have been away for a while.".

Now the group, including Drake who was able to recover from his hit were just confused. This was clearly a case of mistaken identity... Either that or the Ketchum family has some weird family problems... One's other then what involve the boy's aunt Yellow and aura. Soon Drake decided was enough and step forward.

"Ma-am, he isn't your son Travis." Drake interrupted the smoothing. "His name is Ash and he is my twin brother. Plus, we already have our own mother back in Kanto.".

This made the women loosen her hug, much to Ash's relief. He was able to escape the women's grasp but not for long as she was soon peering at him closely, like she was trying to interrogate him. Soon a look of realisation crossed the women's face.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry." The women instantly apologised. "It's just that you look exactly like my son, Travis.".

"Travis?" Ash echoed as Pikachu jump onto Ash's should. Togepi also chirped at his daddy's feet, holding his stubby little arms up to which Ash picked the fairy type up. Despite growing up and being able to walk on his own, Togepi still enjoys being held by his daddy.

"I guess Ash must look a lot like Travis." Misty spoke up, as she & Serena crept closer now that the cost seemed to be clear.

"Yes. My little Travis decided to go off on his own, and even started with a Pikachu I caught for him." The women replied. "I last spoke to him about a month ago, and he said he was in Johto and recently caught a Togepi... I guess when I saw you with both these Pokemon... It must've been wishful thinking.".

"Well he sounds pretty cool, if you ask me." Ash spoke up. "I bet he loves Pokemon, just like I do.".

"Oh, he does." The women replied. "I can tell if you two were to meet, then you would get along like a house on fire. I keep trying to get him the chance to challenge the Orange league, but the rules are so tight that even someone in my position can't bend them that much.".

"That's what I'm doing, the main reason we came to this region was, so I could challenge the gym for my final orange league gym." Ash explained.

"Someone in your position..." Drake mumbled to himself. "Does that mean you have a strong placement in the league structure?".

"Oh, you could say that." The women replied as she got a glint in her eye. "My name is Luana, and I am the Kumquat Island gym leader.".

"You're the gym leader!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Of course." Luana smiled. "So, Ash, if you follow me we can get the battle underway.".

Luana started to walk away towards the way she originally approached from. The group started to follow behind her, since she was no-longer charging towards them, the group had to admit that Luana is very nice. Although something was bothering Drake.

"Luana, if you are the gym leader, then I assume you looked up Ash when you found out he was challenging the league." Drake spoke up. "If that is the case, then how come you mistook Ash for Travis. Surely you would've been expecting him.".

"Well I did do my research, but that doesn't mean I spent a long-time analysis his appearance." Luana answered. "The one thing I look at when looking up the challengers are their Pokemon and battle style in their league matches. I didn't give his league picture more than a passing glance.".

The group continue towards the Kumquat Island gym.

* * *

"Why are we outside of this hotel?" Serena asked.

The group was currently stood outside of a five-star luxury hotel, and the group was pretty confused as to why this was. It was miles outside of the groups price range, so they would've just gone past it without a second glance. Why did Luana lead them here?

"Well this is my hotel, I own it." Luana explained. "It is also where I hold all my orange league gym battles.".

"So, do I have a test to past like the other gyms?" Ash asked.

"Oh no, my gym is all about strategy and teamwork." Luana asked. "Adding another level of difficulty would waste not only my time, but could bother some of the guests since the battlefield is in an isolate location and any sort of test would probably involve the rest of the hotel.".

The group followed Luana as she lead them into the fancy resort. The place was massive, if they didn't know any better than they would guess that it was bigger than the professor's ranch, and this is only the lobby. Other than a few dozen guests, they could also see numerous workers like receptionists and bell boys/girls.

"Once our match is over, you can feel free to use the hotel and all of its facilities to your hearts content." Luana continued. "I see all the challengers as personal guests, and allow them to spend a night free of charge.".

"Oh wow, thank you." Serena thanked.

"I can wait to see what sort of things this hotel has to offer." Misty added dreamily. "A spa, pool, hot spring...".

"All of the above plus more." Luana replied as the group continued to walk through the lobby until they reached a lift. Stepping inside, a worker was stood by the control panel. Once all of them were inside, the boy pressed the bottom button labled gym. They lift started to go lower below the lobby.

* * *

The group walked through the gym in the basement of the hotel, the gym looked like it was set up for training both people and Pokemon based on the equipment on display. The group continued through a pair of double doors which lead into the battlefield. It was actually a lot like the league battlefield except it doesn't have the open roof. Something seemed to bother Drake about the location of the battlefield.

"Luana, is it really safe to have a gym under the Hotel?" Drake asked. "Pokemon battle can get very explosive and easily causes a lot of damage. Wouldn't that cause the risk of shaking the hotel or even making it crumble down?".

"Normally yes, but the room has been built with a shock absorbent metal in all the walls, including the roof and floor." Luana explained. "Even an Earthquake from a Groudon wouldn't get through.".

"Would a Groudon even fit in here?" Drake muttered under Luana's laugh.

Looking around the room, the group spotted one of the bell boys from the hotel walk in, but now he was dressed in a referee outfit. The bell boy walked over and took his place in the ref's box. Since it was obvious the referee was ready, Ash and Luana took their positions in the trainer's box.

Serena took Togepi off Ash, and gave him a good luck kiss on his cheek. She made her way over to the benches behind the referee with Misty and Drake. With everyone in place, it was time for the final gym battle to begin.

"This is a four on four battle between the gym leader Luana and the Challenger Ash Ketchum." The ref declared. "The battle format will be double battles, while the challenger is able to make substitutions at will the gym leader may not. However, if one of the challenger's Pokemon is declared unable to continue then the battle is over. There is also no time limit. Understand?".

"Yeah." Ash answered.

"Yes." Luana answered.

"In addition, the gym leader shall reveal her two Pokemon first." The ref added.

"Marowak, Venomoth. You're up." Luana shouted as she released her two Pokemon. Ash scanned them both with his Pokedex:

 _Marowak, The Bone Keeper Pokemon. The final evolved form of Cubone. Marowak is the evolved form of a Cubone that has overcome its sadness at the loss of its mother and grown tough. This Pokemon's tempered and hardened spirit is not easily broken._

 _Venomoth, The Poison Moth Pokemon. The final evolved form of Venonate. Venomoth is nocturnal—it is a Pokémon that only becomes active at night. Its favourite prey are small insects that gather around streetlights, attracted by the light in the darkness._

The group looked at the two Pokemon with interest. Cubone especially looked at the Marowak. he has been training hard to try and catch up with the rest of Drake's team, he will make sure to watch the ground types movements to learn for when his evolution comes along. From the look of the two Pokemon, they are both very well raised and ready for battle. No wonder Luana doesn't require a qualify test if she has four Pokemon all like this.

"Then I'll start with Snorlax, Charizard. I choose you!" Ash shouted as he threw the two Pokeball. In a flash of light, the Sleeping Pokemon and the Flame Pokemon appeared on the battlefield. Charizard let out a massive battle cry as Snorlax... Yawned.

"Marowak and Venomoth VS Snorlax and Charizard... Begin." The ref started the battle.

* * *

 _Ash VS Luana:_

"Marowak, start with Bonemerang." Luana declared. "Venomoth use Gust.".

The Bone Keeper Pokemon threw his Bone towards Snorlax. The ground type is smart enough to know that a Charizard is more likely to dodge the incoming attack when compared to a Snorlax. Venomoth started to flap her wings which created a powerful wind. The gust attack did little to the two opposing Pokemon, but the bone seemed to speed up and started to spin faster.

Due to it moving so quick, neither Ash or his Pokemon had a chance to react. The bone struck Snorlax on the head and bounced off into the air. Without needing any instruction, Marowak started running before leaping into the air. He was able to snatch the moving object with pin point accuracy.

"Quick Charizard, get Marowak whilst he's in the air!" Ash shouted.

Charizard roared before shooting off into the air. He was on a direct course for the ground type who was falling back to the ground. Ash smirked as he couldn't see a way for Marowak to avoid Charizard.

"Confusion and Bone Club." Luana instructed.

Venomoth had her antenna's stand on end as they glew with a light blue out line. Marowak also gained this light blue outline, and started to fly past Charizard almost like a flying type. Charizard wasn't prepared for this, and thus couldn't stop the ground type.

Once again, Marowak was aiming for the normal type. This is typical of Luana and her Pokemon know it, but focusing on one Pokemon it will go down much quicker, thus throwing the challenger off. Ash knew he couldn't let them keep up this lead they have had so far. Lucky, he saw a way to defend the others.

"Flamethrower Charizard. Straight ahead!" Ash shouted. "And Snorlax use Defence Curl.".

Charizard, who turned around momentarily when Marowak flew past him, looked straight forward and unleashed a massive Flamethrower out of his mouth but didn't have time to properly aim. He trusted Ash when he said straight ahead. The flames went straight for Venomoth who didn't have chance to dodge, and the painful attack caused her to cancel her Confusion.

Due to Venomoth not keeping her Confusion attack up, Marowak was no-longer able to fly. The ground type was shocked when he started to fall but was trained enough to respond accordingly and held his bone in front of him which means it is going to hit Snorlax directly on the head.

The Sleeping Pokemon curled up into a ball as lights appeared around him, raising his physical defence. Marowak fell down in front of the normal type, and the bone hit the normal type but didn't appear to affect him.

"Rollout, and get in the air Charizard!" Ash hollered.

Charizard acted quickly and got into the air as Snorlax started to roll across the field. Marowak was barely able to jump out of the way of the normal type, as Snorlax rolled across the field. Venomoth was barely able to move out of the way of Snorlax. The normal type continued rolling before slamming into the wall, Snorlax stood back up while being a little dizzy on his feet.

"Double Edge & Quiver Dance." Luana instructed.

Marowak started running at the dazed Snorlax with a sort of power barrier surrounding him. He has nearly the entire room to cover before the attack will land but just from past experience, Ash knows this will be a powerful hit.

Venomoth was floating in the air as lights appeared around her, which showed her special defence, special attack and speed all increase. While Ash was sure the bug poison type was dangerous, Marowak seems to be the main attacking force of these two which makes Ash see him as the major threat at this moment in time.

"Quick Charizard, use Seismic Toss on Marowak!" Ash shouted.

Charizard roared and dived down past Venomoth and towards the charging Marowak. Ash failed to notice the smirk which crept onto Luana's face. By making one Pokemon out to more of a threat then the other means Venomoth is free to cause trouble. It is one of her favourite strategies.

"Toxic." Luana requested.

Venomoth quickly fired a blob of purple sludge out of her mouth. Charizard, who wasn't paying her any attention, couldn't dodge the incoming attack and the sludge landed on the fire flying types back. The sudden impact made Charizard lose focus and crashed into the ground as Marowak continued and landed his Double Edge on the normal type. Luckily, Snorlax was able to absorb the hit pretty well.

"Charizard return!" Ash quickly recalled his now poisoned flame Pokemon. While he knows Charizard has plenty of fight left in him, he automatically loses if one of his Pokemon faints, so he doesn't want to risk it. Ash's quickly made his decision and switched the Pokeballs "I choose you, Muk!".

The Sludge Pokemon appeared on the battlefield and let out a battle cry. That Toxic trick won't work on Muk, and Luana has no-clue what ability his Snorlax has so it has to be worth the chance to bluff her. Plus, Ash wants to keep Dragonair secret as she is honestly the strongest Pokemon he is using in this battle.

"Your Muk?" Luana questioned. Like the other gym leaders, Luana has done her research on her challengers which means studying all the Pokemon Ash used in the Indigo League. Obviously, she didn't know about Snorlax, but she wouldn't let that deter her. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting you to use him. This will be interesting.".

"We will show you, interesting." Ash replied confidently. "Shadow Sneak on Venomoth.".

Muk dissolved into the ground becoming little more than a black shadow. In the blink of an eye, the Shadow shot across the ground and into the air before Muk reappeared in front of Venomoth, striking it fast.

"Poison Jab!" Ash shouted.

The Sludge Pokemon quickly pulled his arm back as it glew a bright purple. Not giving Luana or Venomoth the chance to counter, Muk hit Venomoth directly with the poison type move. It was strong enough to know Venomoth away as Muk fell back onto the field. The Poison Moth Pokemon ending up hitting Snorlax's stomach.

"Body Slam, Snorlax!" Ash hollered.

Snorlax, acting on a little common sense, fell forward crushing the bug poison type underneath him. Despite being a well-trained Pokemon, Venomoth couldn't withstand the weight of a Snorlax. As the Sleeping Pokemon stood up again, Venomoth was lying on the field with swirls in her eyes.

"Venomoth is unable to battle." The ref declared. "Please switch your Pokemon, Luana.".

"Return Venomoth, good job." Luana praised her Poison Moth Pokemon. She quickly swapped her Pokeballs. "Go Dodrio!". The normal flying type appeared on the battlefield and scrapped its foot like it was ready to run. Ash scanned it with his Pokedex:

 _Dodrio, The Triple Bird Pokemon. The final evolved form of Doduo. Watch out if Dodrio's three heads are looking in three separate directions. It's a sure sign that it is on its guard. Don't go near this Pokémon if it's being wary-it may decide to peck you._

"Jump Kick." Luana instructed. One of Dodrio's heads spotted which direction Luana gave a quick glance, the Triple Bird Pokemon is one of her oldest Pokemon and thus knows her technique of giving away who she wants to be the target.

Jumping into the air, the normal flying type didn't want to give away which Pokemon she is targeting. In one swift movement, she turned towards Dodrio and stretched one of her legs out before falling towards Snorlax.

"Quick Muk, use Shadow Sneak and Protect Snorlax!" Ash shouted.

While not ideal, Ash knows a fighting move would do a lot more damage to a Snorlax when compared to his Muk. The Sludge Pokemon started to dissolve into the ground again. Ash knows a ghost type move wouldn't touch Dodrio, but it is the only way for Muk to move at a decent speed.

"Not this time, Earthquake!" Luana shouted.

Marowak jumped into the air and landed in front of Muk, caused the battlefield to shake, along with the room they are currently in. The super effective attack forced Muk to reappear on the field unable to protect Snorlax. Dodrio landed her Jump Kick on Snorlax's head.

When combined with both the Earthquake and his previous damage, Snorlax was looking very on edge and panting heavily. Yes, Snorlax are very strong Pokemon but Luana's Pokemon are very well trained so it is no surprise they could cause a lot of damage towards him.

"Return Snorlax!" Ash shouted as he quickly recalled his normal type. In a battle where he isn't able to lose a Pokemon, he doesn't want to take any risks, unfortunately that has put him behind them all. Ash switched the Pokeball for his Ultra Ball. "I choose you, Dragonair!".

The Dragon Pokemon appeared on the battlefield and let out an elegant but might battle cry. She held herself in a royal but threatening pose. She isn't too happy about having to share her battlefield with the sludge hugger but as long as he stays out of her way, everything will be fine.

"Well, now things are getting interesting." Luana commented. "Marowak, use Ice Beam. Dodrio, agility.".

The Bone Keeper Pokemon jumped into the air before a sort of ice ball appeared in front of his mouth. A powerful Ice Beam shot out of the ball and was aiming directly for Dragonair.

Dodrio started running towards Muk, with a light blue outline as she gained running speed. Ash knew he couldn't let Luana chose the match ups, as it would mean he will be playing catch up.

"Dragonair, use Wrap on Dodrio." Ash instructed. "Muk, Ice Punch on Marowak.".

Dragonair leaped into action the moment the words left Ash's mouth. She charged straight into the Triple Bird Pokemon and thanks to the combined speed to the both of them, meant Dodrio couldn't avoid her. Using her slim body and fast reflexes, Dragonair wrapped her body around the normal flying type before slightly levitating in the air, as to limit it ways of struggling.

Muk extended his arm as his fist turned to ice. The frozen hand took the Ice Beam head on, and seemed to be absorbing its energy. Ash smiled as he saw the training paying off. Muk's body is built to absorb attacks, but mostly physical ones. Luckily, Drake devised a way for him to absorb more special based moves, but it requires him to use the same energy that he wants to absorb.

With the Ice Beam having no effect on the sludge Pokemon, Muk extended his arm to strike Marowak head on with the powerful ice move. Marowak had his attack cancelled as he was sent flying into a wall. Despite taking a lot of damage, the ground type was still able to battle although was wobbly as he tried to resume a battle stance.

Ash realised he also couldn't leave Dragonair on restraining Dodrio, no-doubt Luana would figure out a way to escape and the princess wouldn't be best pleased with that role.

"Use Thunder Wave, Dragonair. Then let Dodrio go." Ash instructed his Dragon with a wink. The princess smirked as she knows all-to-well exactly how to let her prisoner go. "Muk, use Shadow Sneak into Poison Jab.".

The Jewel on Dragonair's next glew a sort of mystic blue colour, as several sparks of electricity jumped out and struck Dodrio. The normal flying type cried out as she became paralysed. Once Dragonair was sure the status condition had been inflicted, she raised Dodrio into the air before releasing her grip and Slamming her prisoner down to the ground.

Muk dissolved into the ground before shooting across the field with incredible speed as a shadow. He slammed into the ground type as he reappeared directly in front of Marowak. Not giving the Bone Keeper Pokemon a chance to recover, Muk landed a powerful Poison Jab attack. Marowak was thrown into the wall, then fell onto his stomach with swirls in his eyes.

"Marowak is unable to battle." The ref declared. "Please switch your Pokemon, Luana.".

"Return Marowak, good job." Luana praised her ground type. She quickly swapped her Pokeballs. "Go Alakazam!". The Psi Pokemon appeared on the battlefield and entered a battle stance. Ash scanned it with his Pokedex:

 _Alakazam, The Psi Pokemon. The final evolved form of Abra. Alakazam's brain continually grows, infinitely multiplying brain cells. This amazing brain gives this Pokémon an astoundingly high IQ of 5,000. It has a thorough memory of everything that has occurred in the world._

Ash sighed as he realised the battle was only just getting started. Alakazam are known for being incredibly strong Pokemon and the fact that it is the evolved form of one of Serena's best battlers doesn't ease Ash for the battle a head. Still, he decided the best plan would be to take out Dodrio.

"Muk, use Sludge Bomb on Dodrio." Ash instructed.

Muk opened his mouth and launched several blobs of purple toxic sludge. Dodrio has been trained enough to try and dodge without being instructed to but the paralysis took over. The Triple Bird Pokemon was about to take the poison type attack.

"Psychic." Luana instructed.

Alakazam is her oldest partner, all she needs is the one word and he knows exactly how she wants him to attack. The Psychic type's eyes glew blue as a powerful wave of psychic energy shot out from his body. It intercepted the Sludge Bomb's, making them implode in the air but the psychic wave continued towards Muk.

"Dragonair, protect Muk with Dragon Rush!" Ash shouted.

Dragonair let out an elegant battle cry as dark blue dragon type energy surrounded her body. Her eyes even glew a dark yellow colour. Shooting across the field, she burst through the psychic wave with the Dragon Rush protecting her. Alakazam saw the incoming threat and didn't need to be told to dodge. He ended the Psychic attack before it reached Muk, and he levitated out of the way, dodging the princess and her attack. Dragonair crashed into the wall but quickly got up looking very angry. How dare this thing make her look like an idiot?

"Drill Peck." Luana ordered with a smirk.

Dodrio started to run towards Muk but wasn't going at nearly her fastest because of the paralysis. Ash noticed the sparks were still showing over the normal flying types body and wondered what Luana was planning, the female bird isn't exactly in a prime battling condition so why send it on a head-on attack?

"Use your body to stop it, Muk. Then finish it with Ice Punch." Ash instructed.

Muk started to expand his body as Dodrio stepped onto the sludgy puddle. This combined with the paralysis made Dodrio come to a standstill. Luana made no attempts to stop the sludge Pokemon as he coated his fist in ice and punched the normal flying type in her centre. The Triple Bird Pokemon was sent flying, and landed on her back with swirls in her eyes.

"Dodrio is unable to battle." The ref declared. "Please return your Pokemon, Luana.".

"Return Dodrio, good job." Luana praised her normal flying type as she returned her. "Thank you, Ash, now that you have taken Dodrio out you have given me a great advantage.".

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"It may not be nice, but Dodrio was a sitting Psyduck. That is why I let you take her down so easily." Luana explained. "You will learn that in a battle, not all decisions you make are nice ones. But you still have to choose. And now that only Alakazam is left, he doesn't need to worry about protecting anyone else.".

Ash looked at Luana with a hard stare, he would've expecting to hear something like that from Drake back before they made amends or from Paul or someone. Then again, if they did say that then Ash probably would've just have ignored it tried to prove them wrong but if a gym leader in the Orange League said it then maybe there is something behind it.

There is a battle that needs to be done and while Dragonair is fighting fit, Muk is a sitting Psyduck against Alakazam while the rest of his Pokemon aren't really in much of a battling condition. Although, knowing how Dragonair likes to battle, he may have a way around that.

"Dragonair, do you think you can handle Alakazam on your own?" Ash asked his Dragon type.

"Of course." Dragonair replied in a confident tone.

"Very well, I trust you." Ash replied as he pulled a Pokeball out. "Return Muk.". The Sludge Pokemon was returned to his Pokeball and Ash quickly clipped it back to his belt with a word of thanks. He hesitated over the other Pokeballs.

"Challenger, as this is a double battle format, you need to bring out a second Pokemon." The ref instructed.

Great, normally a two on one match up would give Ash the advantage but in this situation, he would have to make sure Alakazam couldn't just attack that Pokemon to end the match early while having Dragonair in the proper battle. Still, if he does need to use one he knows exactly who.

"I choose you, Snorlax!" Ash shouted as he released his normal type. The Sleeping Pokemon appeared on the battle field, looking ready to faint and still panting heavily. Ash wasn't going to waste a second in his plan. "Snorlax, use Rest!".

That was like music to Snorlax's ears. He wasted no time in falling onto his back, falling into a deep sleep. His body started to light up, as his health was slowly being recharged. Dragonair rolled her eyes before entering a battle stance to restart the battle.

"Extreme Speed into Wrap!" Ash shouted.

Dragonair shot off like a bullet towards the Psi Pokemon. Alakazam was in a battle stance but wasn't completely ready to handle Dragonair's speed. She slammed into the Psychic type before wrapping her body around Alakazam like she did Dodrio. Knowing Ash well enough, she also unleashed another Thunder Wave.

"Teleport." Luana instructed.

Alakazam glew white before he reappeared next to Dragonair. The Dragon type had her body which was holding the Psi Pokemon in place sort of collapse in on herself, which only added to the princess' anger. While Teleport is one of Alakazam's more difficult tricks to deal with, Luana's doesn't enjoy using it too much so he only uses it when absolutely needed.

"Shadow Ball." Luana instructed.

Unfortunately, she never got around to teach Alakazam an Ice, Fairy or Dragon type move so he doesn't have a real type advantage over Dragonair, plus Dragon's resist psychic so even if the princess isn't fully evolved doesn't mean she is at the disadvantage. Plus, there is that healing Snorlax to deal with.

Alakazam formed a Shadow Ball in front of his chest before throwing it at the Dragon type. Due to her slim and agile body, Dragonair was able to avoid the ghost type move which imploded into a wall behind her. Alakazam quickly formed a second Shadow Ball and launched it again to keep up the pressure.

"Return it with Aqua Tail!" Ash shouted.

Dragonair coated her tail in water barrier as the second Shadow Ball was blasted towards her. The Princess didn't attempt to avoid it like last time and instead whacked the ghost type move with her water covered tail. The Shadow Ball was sent back towards the Psi Pokemon.

"Psybeam." Luana commanded.

Alakazam held his two spoons in front of himself as a sort of beam made up of multicoloured psychic type energy shot forward. The Psybeam struck the Shadow Ball, making it implode upon impact, as the psychic type move continued towards Dragonair.

"Dragon Rush!" Ash shouted.

Dragonair let out another elegant cry as she powered up another Dragon Rush attack. Shooting forward the princess was again protected from the Psychic type attack thanks to the Dragon type energy. Neither Alakazam or Luana had a chance to react as the princess slammed into the Psi Pokemon. Alakazam was sent flying back and slammed into the sleeping Pokemon who absorbed most of the impact, but didn't even twitch in his sleep.

"Recover." Luana instructed.

Alakazam started to glow as the injuries he just received from the Dragon Rush were being healed up. Ash knew Alakazam couldn't take to many hits as he isn't built for defence. Lucky, Dragonair still has a secret weapon to handle Psychic types.

"Extreme speed... Then use your tail." Ash instructed.

Luana and Alakazam were confused as so far Ash has been pretty straight forward about his attack plans, sure he hasn't need to tell them to do everything like to avoid in coming attacks but that is just a sign of being an experienced trainer. This one change was enough to throw the gym leader and ace off. Of course, she has had faced many opponents who give out battle commands like this, but she wasn't expecting this from Ash mainly because of how into the battle she gets, which only adds to their surprise.

The princess shot off towards the Psi Pokemon with incredible speed. She slammed into the Psychic type once again and he went flying towards another wall, but swinging her tail around as it was coated in red and black, dark type energy. She used Brutal Swing and got a second powerful hit in.

"Now finish it with Dragon Pulse!" Ash hollered.

As Alakazam flew into a wall, the princess fired a blue beam of dragon type energy out of her mouth. The Psychic type was engulfed by the powerful hit. Smoke covered the result of the onslaught of attacks for about a minute, with no movement or sounds coming from within. Once the smoke faded, Alakazam was found on his stomach with burn marks and swirls in his eyes.

"Alakazam is unable to battle." The ref declared. "With all four of her Pokemon unable to battle, Luana has been defeated which means the winner of this match and the Kumquat gym badge is the challenger, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town.".

* * *

"Awesome Dragonair, you was amazing!" Ash charged out into the field and embraced the dragon type with a hug. He would've done the same to Snorlax, but the normal type is still asleep. Ash can't help but think that the Sleeping Pokemon is already fully healed but just doesn't want to wake up.

Dragonair rolled her eyes at the show of affection, it is undignified for a princess to show affection to someone else, but Ash has been a good subject for her. With a sigh, she reluctantly returned the gesture by wrapping her tail around Ash, as her own sort of hug.

In a flash of light, both Muk and Charizard appeared on the field. Charizard was still suffering from the effects of the Poison while Muk was looking exhausted, but the sludge Pokemon didn't let that stop him. Muk joined Ash and Dragonair in the victory hug, much to the dragon types dismay. Charizard pulled himself together to add in his own celebration by firing a weak Flamethrower at the trio. Muk and Dragonair were able to move out of the way so only Ash was hit.

"You... Were awesome as well... Buddy." Ash chocked before he fell over.

Luana had thanked and returned her Psi Pokemon before approaching the soot covered Ash. She looked at the group of four Pokemon and trainer with a light smile on her face. Despite having varying personalities and they might not all get along, you just had to see Dragonair's reaction to Muk's hug to know that, they all have a close bond with Ash which is exactly what the Orange League is about.

"Congratulations Ash, as proof of your victory here at the Kumquat gym it is my pleasure to present you with the Jade Star Badge." Luana told her victorious challenger as Ash picked himself up, whipping the soot of his face.

Luana held her hand out and on her palm, was one of the badges. It is shaped like a conch shell with a small pale cream gemstone in the centre. Ash looked at the badge with a smile before he picked it up and placed it with his others. Pikachu flashed the V sign, but everyone seemed to notice something was off about Ash.

"Thank you, Luana." Ash thanked as his friends approached him.

"Ash, what's wrong?" Drake asked.

"What do you mean?" Ash replied with a look of confusion.

"Normally when you earn a badge or catch a Pokemon you spin around and shout out about what you just did." Serena answered.

"Oh that." Ash replied with a light chuckle. "I just figured, with me being twelve now and about to compete in the Orange League, it is time I grew up and stop doing that. Everyone already knows what I've done so far.".

"Well for now you can enjoy the facilities of the hotel." Luana explained to the group. "The receptionist would have prepared the room for you as well.".

"I should probably get the guys a check-up with Nurse Joy." Ash replied.

"Oh, no need for that." Luana replied. "Our spa and relaxations has a full medical bay to heal the challengers and my own Pokemon. They will be fighting fit in no time.".

* * *

Once Charizard, Snorlax, Muk & Dragonair had been healed up, the group set off around the hotel for their own thing. Luana mentioned the league offers a boat ride for the competing trainers back to Pummelo stadium. To give Lapras a break after all her travelling, Ash and the others exchanged their on-hand teams by using the hotel phones and exchanging their teams. After today, the real training for the Orange League begins.

Ash exchanged his team for: Pikachu, Blastoise, Haunter, Sandslash, Aerodactyl and Snorlax. Serena also exchanged her team for: Kadabra, Kingdra, Eevee, Kabuto, Magneton and Jigglypuff. Misty also exchanged her team for: Starmie, Seaking, Tentacruel, Psyduck, Vaporeon and Poliwag. Finally, Drake went with: Charizard, Pinsir, Victreebel, Machamp, Cubone and Ponyta.

With the new teams the group set off around the hotel. Misty, Blastoise, Kingdra, Starmie, Seaking, Tentacruel, Psyduck, Vaporeon and Poliwag went into the outside pool which had more than enough space for all of them. The weird thing about Psyduck is, he didn't mutter a word to Ash in the brief time together. Since being given the Calm Mind TM by Rudy, he hasn't spent any sort of time with the aura user.

Serena went to the spa with: Haunter, Eevee, Kabuto and Jigglypuff. Haunter mentioned having to look her best for the big movie part she is going to have, whatever that meant. Eevee and Jigglypuff just wanted to feel pampered and spend time with Serena. Kabuto, while he isn't exactly the spa type was too shy to join the other water Pokemon in the pool and refused to leave Serena's side.

In the gym was Ash with: Pikachu, Sandslash, Kadabra, Charizard, Pinsir, Machamp and Cubone. Despite only just winning his fourth gym badge, Ash was in mood to relax, he was pumped up for the league. With Serena's birthday coming up next week, he didn't want to waste any time. Not to mention, some of the Pokemon like Sandslash, Kadabra and Pinsir just would train regardless and a few others decided to join them, but Ash let his own Pokemon decide where to go, just like the others.

Finally, in the garden was Drake with: Aerodactyl, Snorlax, Magneton, Victreebel and Ponyta. Aerodactyl and Snorlax are asleep in the sun. Magneton is just mindlessly floating around with no-activity currently in mind. Victreebel, was going to prank some of the other guests but was told to be on his best behaviour. Ponyta was too timid to leave Drake's side so she enjoyed a brush from her trainer.

Soon it was time for the sun to set. The group met back up and enjoyed a full three course meal for both the trainers and Pokemon. They surprisingly even catered for Snorlax. Once the meal was finished, the group retired to their room. It was very big, the main part was a lounge type room, with two separate bedrooms and a bathroom all attached on. The group are now sat around the lounge.

Ash has a sleeping Togepi in his hands, with Serena resting her head on his shoulder, these two are sat on the couch. Pikachu is lay on the back of the couch, not quite asleep but resting after a hard training session. Misty is sat on the arm chair with her Poliwag in her hands, despite not being a baby Pokemon, Poliwag has been acting like it but that will likely change when she evolves. Drake is sat on the floor with Cubone on his lap, who, like Pikachu, is exhausted, but not quite asleep.

"So, Ash, how does it feel to have all four badges needed to compete in the Orange League?" Serena asked.

"It feels great, I can just feel the Orange Trophy in my hands." Ash replied as he shot her an excited smile.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Ash." Misty teased. "You still have a long way to go before even getting the chance to face the champion. Speaking off, have you decided who your gonna use?".

"... Hmm, not really." Ash answered the question after a little bit of thought. "Drake, who do you think I should use?".

"I wouldn't make that decision yet. We have a two-week boat ride to Pummelo stadium, then we have the week of the grand festival." Drake replied. "I would just spend the first two weeks making sure all your Pokemon are in top form, then do the research when the Grand Festival is on.".

"Research?" Ash questioned.

"Yes, look up those you are competing against." Drake answered. "They all have league records, so you can find out which Pokemon they have on their teams, view their old league battles and plan accordingly... They will likely be doing the same with you and your team.".

"So, they will have Ash's full history? That doesn't seem fair." Serena butted in.

"Not quite, Serena." Drake replied. "The league records only hold information gathered at the leagues the trainer has competed at. For Ash, they only have the Indigo League. It means any Pokemon used in that league, as well as all the trainer's battles can be viewed. Ash's Lapras and Snorlax won't be made known... Not until they are used in a league battle, and Blastoise will still be down as a Wartortle... It is the same for all the trainers.".

"So, they will know which Pokemon I have but I will have access to the same information?" Ash repeated. "Man, this research and planning sounds difficult.".

"I'll help you when we get to Pummelo, but until then just focus on making sure everyone is in top condition." Drake repeated. Before anyone could respond, a certain ghost poison type came floating through the lounge, juggling with three balls.

"Da, da, dadada, circus. Da, da, dadada, Afro. Circus, afro, circus, afro. Poke-a-dot, poke-a-dot, poke-a-dot. Afro!" Haunter sang as she continued to juggle.

"Um Haunter... What are you doing?" Ash reluctantly asked.

"I am getting in a last-minute rehearsal before the big movie arc over the next three chapters." Haunter replied matter-of-factly.

"I'm not gonna say it." Ash promised himself. Haunter smirked as she accepted the challenge.

"Although what I could really use is something much bigger to juggle..." Haunter mused before a light bulb went off above her head. "Hey author, can you write in that the Hotel is under construction and has three of those big digger thingies'.".

"I'm not gonna say it." Ash repeated to himself.

"Hello, author. Are you there?" Haunter popped out of the screen as the author wrote this part, to grab his attention but he too was ignoring her, so she returned to the group. "Well if you won't listen to me then I guess I'll need to spoil that at the end of the movie you reveal more about We...".

"Shut it Haunter!" The author warned.

"I'm gonna say it..." Ash sighed, having enough of the whatever Haunter was up to. "WE! ARE! NOT! IN! A! FAN FICTION! HAUNTER!".

* * *

After a full night's sleep and full breakfast at the hotel restaurant, the group was packed up and ready to get a move on as they received word from Luana that the league boat had arrived for them. As the group stepped out of the automatic doors, they saw a familiar face. Alvin, one of the six competing trainers in the League was on a battlefield. Currently out were his Butterfree and Cubone who were in some sort of battle.

"I guess Alvin still needs to battle Luana, and is getting ready for the match." Ash replied thoughtfully. He would've suggested going over to speak with him, but he looks pretty busy and they don't really have time to waste, so they continued on their way towards the dock.

"He looked to be pretty serious, Ash." Misty spoke up as a teasing smirk crossed her face. "Are you sure your up to that sort of challenge at the league?".

"Of course, I am." Ash replied confidently.

"Toge Toge!" Togepi chirped an agreement.

"Hehehe, Togepi seems to think so." Serena giggled.

"Seren-a." Togepi chirped again. Now Ash's eyes widened, Togepi has been trying to say more words recently with him trying his hardest with Serena's name. While not perfect, especially with the last 'a', this was the clearest he has said it.

"Togepi..." Ash whispered as he looked at the fairy type. The Spikeball Pokemon cheered and hugged his daddy, it didn't take a genius for the group to work out that the fairy type just said something. Unfortunately, only Ash is capable of understanding the Pokemon.

"D'aww, that is soo cute." A familiar female voice cooed from behind the group. Upon hearing the voice, the group turned around to find Leaf stood behind them. Ash, Misty and Drake were surprised to find the adventurer, but Serena smiled and welcomed the girl with a hug.

"Glad you could make, Leaf." Serena told her friend.

"Well I said I would come back for when my bro faces the league." Leaf replied. "I am just glad I was able to catch ya before you left.".

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"Leaf called me a couple days ago, when you was training." Serena explained. "I told her how you planned to take on the gym yesterday. And she said she was on a nearby island and that she would try to catch us up.".

"Well this is great, now all we have to do is get to Pummelo and win the Orange League." Ash declared as he looked around. Since Leaf joined up, the group didn't stop walking when Leaf showed up, so they were able to make it to the dock.

It didn't take long for the group to find the boat they were supposed to be getting, as it was a decent size but not a massive cruise liner like the rest of the boats. On the boat was a female in her mid-twenties, wearing a black cap with some green hair sticking forward and dressed in orange baggy clothes.

"Hey there!" The female shouted down to the group as she jumped onto the dock and off her ground. "I'm Maren, and I was sent by Drake the orange league champion to escort you to Pummelo stadium.".

"Hey Maren, I'm Ash." Ash introduced himself. "These are Pikachu and Togepi.".

"I'm Serena." Serena spoke up.

"And I'm Misty." Misty added.

"Drake." Drake stuck his hand up, this is actually the first word he uttered since Leaf joined the group.

"And I'm Leaf." The hyper active girl jumped in.

"Well it's nice to meet you." Maren explained. "We're gonna be on the sea for about two-weeks, and we aren't set to stop on any islands except some deserted ones for night. If you're ready to go, we can set sail. Of course, your Pokemon are free to be released once were out on the sea, and as long as they don't damage the ship you can do your training.".

"Sounds good to me." Ash replied, excited.

"Then let's get you all on board." Maren smiled as she started to help the group enter the boat.

Once the group was on board the boat, and they were out to sea. Maren showed them around the ship, which didn't take very long. With all four badges in hand and Leaf re-joining the group, it wouldn't be long before the league started. Of course, Serena would have her birthday whilst they were out on the water, but it seems like the Orange Islands adventures is coming to an end... What could possibly happen before the league though?

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	17. The Power of One P I

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the arc I have been most looking forward to since starting this project. The Power of One is my personally favourite of all the Pokemon movies, so I am hoping I do the original film justice. Expect legends, myths, foreshadowing... And Haunter. Speaking of, early on she kind of makes me do something I had an idea for to keep it with the movies opening (you'll know it when you see it), let me know what you think about it in the reviews. Okay, I have stalled long enough as I want to get started so remembering to vote in the latest poll, it will be up until the end of the Power of One arc. With that, let's begin... Oh and happy holidays to you all._**

* * *

 _Chapter 17: The Power of One P I_

"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice & lighting. Lest these titans reek destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song shall fail. Thus, the world will turn to ash." A man read aloud to himself. "Oh, chosen one, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the beast of the sea.".

The man is young, mid-twenties. He has medium length golden hair and of average height. This prophecy has always been one of his favourites. He has been a big fan of old myths and legends. You might ask why this one stood out to him. It was because it contained information on one creature which he had never seen or obtained before. All of this was very important to him. This man is Lawrence III and he is known as a great collector. Over his life, he has collected many things ranging from rare artefacts to valuable pieces of art work to ancient prophecy's... Just like the one he just read.

Lawrence III is sat on his personal chair in front of a large projector. He has observed and researched the prophecy of the chosen one for a long time now, and he is certain he has decoded it. It is time for him to place his plan into action and take on his destined role as the chosen one. He shall capture the three titans spoken of in the legend, thus calling fourth his grand prize, which shall become the centre piece of his collection.

Of course, only the chosen one will have access to these creatures, like all items in his collection. It all started with that little mew card he received from his mother, actually his collection started with inheritance from his mother, but he has tripled this size of that collection over all his time.

Lawrence's thoughts were interrupted by an alarm which sounded, as a red image in the vague image of a bird appeared on what looks like a sort of holographic chess board. A smirk formed on the collector's face.

"Historical records show that the three Pokemon to make up the bird trinity: Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, are currently located around Shamouti Island." A computer voice informed.

"Hmm, so it is time for the old tale to come to life." Lawrence mumbled to himself before addressing his computer assistant. "I say I shall take a look around.".

"Pokemon matching subject's parameters: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres detected." The computer informed as the giant air ship took course towards a group of islands.

"And so, it beings." Lawrence III sighed happily to himself. "Tell me, which of them is closest to us right now?".

"The fire Pokemon, Moltres." The computer replied.

"Yes." The collector muttered. "Bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the beast of the sea... Lugia.".

* * *

It was picture perfect weather on the seas of the Orange Archipelago. The sun is high and bright in the sky without a cloud to be seen. There is hardly any humidity along with the sunshine and is accompanied by a gentle ocean wind. The group have been aboard Maren's boat for a week since leaving Kumquat Island. It isn't long since they set of, so they still have all day practically.

The group haven't been able to stop of and explore any of the islands where they would rest for a night, but that is fine. Leaf has been keeping them entertained with her own stories from her travels. First, she met a strange Onix which was made out of crystal. Secondly, she also went to an island populated completely with pink Pokemon, which was caused by the berries which grew on the island. Next, she told them about when she met a Pokemon firefighting team made up of Wartortle.

Needless to say, she has seen quite a few interesting things while the group have been collecting gym badges. Even though they have been on the boat for a while, Ash has been keeping up with his training. Pikachu, Haunter and Sandslash would be able to battle on the boat, provided it didn't get too destructive. Blastoise and Snorlax would train in the water, while Aerodactyl would stick to the sky.

Drake also made sure to help his brother in every aspect of his training. While he wants to repay the debt, he feels he owes his brother for teaching him to bond, as well as just doing it because he wants his brother to win this league, he has been using every opportunity to avoid Leaf. She is like a Growlithe, always by his side and one she has her grip on him, won't let go... Never has someone or thing scared him more, not Mewtwo, not Giovanni, and not Team Rocket.

Although today is a special day, one where Ash isn't training or even thinking about the Orange League. Today he was only thinking about one person. Why? That is because, today is Serena's twelve birthday!

"Happy birthday, Serena!" Leaf shouted as she engulfed her best friend with a birthday hug from behind. For being a relatively small girl, she has a lot of strength, probably as a result of all her adventuring. Which means, she picked the birthday girl up into the air.

"Aaaahhhh!" Serena yelled in surprise of being lifted up. "LEAF! Put me down!". Serena for years dreamt of being picked up and spun around... But it was always Ash in those dreams that would pick her up, NOT Leaf. With a sigh, the brunette let her best friend down again.

"Spoil sport." Leaf puffed her cheeks. Serena knew Leaf well enough to know she didn't mean anything by it, although the sly smile which formed on the hyper active girl's lips created goose bumps on the birthday girls skin. "I just wanted to make sure you had a fun birthday... Guess the one thing you really want is a kiss from your prince charming.".

Leaf hummed an _innocent_ tune as she skipped away, Serena's face was bright red, yes, she did think about how great it would be to receive such a nice gesture from Ash, he is her boyfriend after all but once again Leaf doesn't fail to embarrass her. It only made matters worse when she saw Ash approaching her with his usual cheery grin on his face.

"Happy birthday." He whispered as he planted a small delicate kiss on her cheek. That only added to the blush on Serena's face, he was going to ask what the matter was but decided to leave it as she is clearly uncomfortable. "Maren said our Pokemon can come out for a bit, she also said we can stop at a nearer island where we can hold the proper celebration.".

Serena nodded her head in understanding and forced her blush away. Looking around she saw the other's Pokemon out. With a smile she grabbed her Pokeball before getting ready to release the Pokemon inside, when Haunter just appeared in front of her.

"And, cue the music." Haunter clicked her fingers, as the opening theme started to play.

 _'I wanna take, the ultimate step. Find the courage to be bold (yeah)'_

Serena tossed her first Pokeball into the air as it burst open with her Kingdra appearing mid-air. The water dragon type did a spin before gracefully landing in the water with a perfect stance to show off her elegance and posture.

 _'To risk it all and not forget, the lessons that I hold'_

Blastoise jumped out of the water, slightly behind Kingdra, spinning in his shell. Once reaching his maximum height he popped out of his shell, with his signature shades on and canon balled into the water.

 _'I wanna go where no-ones been, far beyond the crowd'_

The splash created, hit Pikachu, Togepi and Cubone who were riding on Snorlax's stomach. The normal type was floating on his back, asleep in the water. Although Cubone looked less then pleased to be in the situation.

 _'To learn the way to take command, Use the power that's in my hand'_

Serena released her next too Pokemon, being her two newest arrivals. Magneton and Jigglypuff appeared in flashes of light on the front of the boat. Jigglypuff did a spin and a small curtsy, like she was taking part in a performance. While Magneton had a blank expression, he turned away and started to explore.

 _'We all live in a Pokemon world (Pokemon world), I wanna be the greatest master of them all (master of them all)'_

Magneton ended up passing Drake, who was brushing Ponyta. Leaf was right by his side brushing her Flareon, with her Clefable and Persian waiting for their turn. She was trying, and failing to get him to show her the slightest bit of attention.

 _'We all live in a Pokemon world. Put myself to the test, to be better than all the rest'_

Sandslash was at the very front of the boat looking at his reflection in the water. This scene reminded him of those dark days, when his old trainer would whip him into jumping into the pool, calling it special training.

 _'So, you wanna be the master of POKEMON!'_

Further out in the sea, Starmie was doing some sort of water skiing, with Seaking, Vaporeon and Dewgong swimming next to it. Tentacruel can be seen casually floating away from the other water types.

 _'Understand the secrets and HAVE SOME FUN!'_

In the air, the three flying types appeared to be in some form of formation, as they were side by side. Fearow was on the furthest right, where he spun out into a dive as Charizard, who was in the middle smirked before attempting the same manuvers. Aerodactyl was the final one who simply let out a powerful roar.

' _So, you wanna be the master of POKEMON!'_

On the back half of the boat was Leaf's Venusaur and Drake's Victreebel soaking in the sunlight. Venusaur was sleeping peacefully, while Victreebel had one eye open looking for the next target of one of his pranks.

 _'Do you have the skills to be NUMBER ONE!'_

Not far away from the two grass poison types is Misty, who is doing some sunbathing of her own with her Psyduck and Poliwag by her side. Since learning the move Calm Mind, the Duck Pokemon seems to be fully aware of his surrounding and is proving to be a very loyal Pokemon.

 _'We all live in a Pokemon world (Pokemon world)'_

Machamp and Pinsir could also be seen, locked in fist to fist combat. The Stag Beetle Pokemon is clearly at a disadvantage due to them moving around the same speed and only having two arms compared to the fighting types four, but neither side was holding back in the sparring match.

' _I wanna be the greatest master of them all (master of them all)'_

Serena tossed up two more Pokeballs as her Kadabra and Kabuto appeared. The Psi Pokemon remained his serious expression and stood by his trainer's side, as he had a bad feeling about something on its way.

 _'We all live, in a Pokemon world. Put myself to the test, to be better than all the rest (Better than all the rest)'_

Kabuto also sensed something dangerous and got scared. He attempted to hid in Serena's stomach, but his sharp pincers ended up hurting her like usual as she was knocked over. Oh no, he doesn't mean to hurt Serena, he really cares for her. He just wants to cuddle like he has seen some of her other Pokemon do.

 _'We all live in a Pokemon world (Pokemon world), I wanna be the greatest master of them all (master of them all)'_

Eevee let herself out of Serena's final Pokemon and checked on her trainer. She sighs when she looked at both Kabuto and Serena before trying to comfort them both, she knows that Kabuto doesn't mean to hurt anyone, it's just that he is very Timid, and can't fully control himself when he gets scared. He isn't a bad Mon.

The music started to fade as Haunter was floating around with some sort of script in her hands. She seemed to be practising her lines when something caught her eye, a giant black storm cloud in the sky, heading towards them quickly.

"Oooh, its starting it." Haunter excitedly announced, she was close enough to Ash for him to hear her. Despite his better judgement, he was interested in what got the poison ghost type excited, so he walked towards her.

"What are you on about, Haunter?" Ash asked as he looked at the arguably psychotic Pokemon.

"Look, it's the big storm which is going to force us to dock at an unscheduled island where you'll take the main role in a legend you know nothing about and I get to be just plain awesome as the un-spoke heroine." Haunter explained with stars in her eyes.

"Riiiiight." Ash replied in a tone which showed he didn't exactly believe what she said. Although that didn't stop him from taking a look at the supposed storm, just like Haunter said, a large black cloud is heading towards them.

"Hold on guys. There are some storm clouds rolling in." Maren interrupted any thoughts that might be running through the raven-haired boy's mind. "To be safe, I think you should return all your Pokemon and get inside.".

The group listened to the boat expert and returned all their Pokemon, except for Pikachu, Cubone and Togepi for obvious reasons. Kadabra helped those three get off Snorlax's stomach and get back to the boat safely. While it didn't take long at all for them to return the Pokemon, the in-coming storm was now covering the sky in black clouds as the water began to get choppy.

"How did the weather change so fast?" Ash asked rhetorically. While they are used to bad weather, all the reports claimed that today was meant to be a bright sunshiny day and this change took place over a couple of minutes at most.

"Don't know, but Cubone isn't too fond of the thought of getting wet." Drake replied as the rest of the group surrounded around Ash and Serena. The ground type was perched on Drake's shoulder, just like how Pikachu is on Ash's shoulder. "I think we should do as Maren suggested and get inside.".

No-one had any sort of objection to the suggestion and they started to make their way to the inside cabin. Not a moment later a strong wave crashed into the side of the boat, knocking the group off their feet as they made their way. Lucky, after walking over all types of environments from forests to mountains, they all had a good sense of balance, and were able to remain on their feet. Not wasting any more time, they entered the cabin where Maren was steering the boat. She was also able to close the windows to stop the rain or wind from entering the cabin.

"You guys might want to hold on tight." Maren suggested as she held the wheel tightly. "It looks like it's about to get rough.".

The group didn't need to be told twice, and they grabbed a hold of the railings available. Pikachu practically wrapped his body around the metal poll, so he wasn't adding to Ash weight. Speaking off, Ash placed Togepi into his backpack, so he had both hands free, and to stop the fairy type from flying around.

It was almost instant as the waves continued to push the boat in any direction as Maren struggled to stop the boat from sinking. Despite holding onto the railings, the harsh conditions were making the group wobble, but they were able to remain standing.

"Chuuuu!" Pikachu cried as he clutched to the poll for dear life. Only Ash could understand what he was actually saying, and normally he would tell the electric mouse off for that sort of language, but he can't blame him in this situation.

"Urg, just hold on buddy." Ash gritted his teeth as he attempted to comfort his starter.

This has got to be one of the worst storms the group has been in since that time when on their way to New Island. Togepi could be heard whimpering from Ash's backpack for his dada, but Ash was clearly in no situation to comfort the fairy type.

"I'm gonna need to dock us at Shamouti Island until this storm is over!" Maren shouted over the loud noise.

She began to try and turn her boat against the storm towards the nearest island. It is recommended the competitor's divers stop off only on un-inhabited islands, so the trainers don't get distracted and wonder off, and so they have a large training area, but safety always comes first, so they don't have much choice in the matter.

* * *

High in the sky, directly above of Fire Island it is a clear day. A giant air ship is right over the small(ish) island, as a turret of canons lowered out of the bottom of the ship. Once loaded up, some sort of canon ball fired out of the canon which crashed into fire island. It exploded upon contact, covering the island in ice.

Several more of the cannon balls were fired. There was about a fifth-teen second delay between each blast. Soon over half of the island was covered in ice, including an opening to some sort of cave which leads into the main mountain of the island.

The ice covering the cave opening soon seemed to be turning red as the ice was quickly being melted into water before evaporating completely. A powerful flamethrower shot of the cave. Before the flames disappeared, a phoenix-like Pokemon shot out while surround by the flames.

"And so, it begins." Lawrence III smirked from his chair.

The phoenix-like Pokemon turned out to be none-other than Moltres. It quickly located the giant air ship and realised this was who was attacking it. Retaliating to the attack, it began to fly towards the air ship while unleashing powerful flamethrowers.

Lawrence III was prepared however, and continued to fire the ice-cannon balls at the Fire Pokemon. Using a barrage of aerial manuvers and flamethrowers, Moltres was able to avoid or destroy the incoming attacks. Although Lawrence III was stupid, he knew Moltres as a legend was simply too strong to be taken down by something like them. No.

His true intentions became clear as the cannon balls destroyed by the flamethrowers not only imploded but also turned into a cloud of mist. The air ship has its own targeting system so regardless of the atmosphere Lawrence still knows where his target is, unfortunately Moltres doesn't share that advantage.

With stage one complete, Lawrence III moved onto step two. Several large panels moved on the outside of his air ship as black rings shot out before going towards the mist cloud. Seconds later another flamethrower shot out of the mist. a horde more of the rings entered the mist cloud before a screech could be heard.

The rings created a sort of ball around Moltres, stopping it from attacking with a powerful electric field. Moltres couldn't so much move, as it was tortured by electricity. The ball containing the legend just returned to the air ship entering through the way the rings left before the ship re-adjusted back to its original way.

"Well I've taken the first piece without much difficulty." Lawrence III stated calmly with a smug expression. "It's like a simple game of chess.".

* * *

Far away in the Kanto region, to be more accurate the small town of Pallet, three women: Delia Ketchum, Grace Yvonne and Rose Green were enjoying a tea and cake morning chat, with the bright summers day.

"Ash and Drake called me not so long ago, they said Ash has already collected all the Orange badges." Delia smiled warmly. "It won't be long now until he is competing in the league. Plus, Drake caught a Ponyta, he has come a long way with bonding with his Pokemon.".

"Leaf told me she has re-joined the group as well, so she can watch Ash compete live in person." Rose added. "Although if you ask me, I think she is more interested in spending time with Drake then she is in the league this time around.".

"I wouldn't be surprised, she is about as subtle as Serena was before they left on their journey." Delia giggled which was joined in by the other two mothers.

"I just don't want her to get her hopes up, I mean. Drake hasn't exactly been reciprocating her feelings from what I can see." Rose replied. "I am actually surprised she fell for him, I mean, they never really spent any time together before travelling with Ash and Serena.".

"It could have to do with how he is trying to become more like Ash with learning to bond." Grace added in her own thoughts. "I mean, when we first arrived I would've guessed that something was between Ash and Leaf simply because of how they were so similar. It was one reason I worried for Serena back then.".

"Still, I don't think she had to worry at all." Delia informed. "After all, they say opposites attract and Ash and Leaf are practically twins. That could be why she has fallen for Drake, because of the differences as well.".

"Hahaha, listen to you two. It could simply because they are growing up that she has started to develop these feelings." Rose laughed. "It's only natural after all and with living in such a small town, there were only two boys she could've fallen for since I know she wouldn't try to break Ash and Serena up.".

"Well even if she isn't getting much luck with Drake, I hear she is doing well with her Pokedex." Grace changed the topic.

"Right, last time I checked she only had two Pokemon from Kanto to see." Rose replied. "Those being, Articuno and Moltres, I believe. She was also able to somehow find the mythical Pokemon Mew. I don't suppose she is going to tell me what she did to find it, though.".

"I know Ash and Drake also have it, I wouldn't be surprised if Serena does as well." Delia explained.

"Serena also has Articuno and Moltres, I wouldn't be surprised if Leaf only started to travel with them after the league to find out where they are." Rose laughed. "But whenever I asked her about how she found some of these Pokemon, she was secretive and said I didn't need to know.".

"Well you are a breeder, not an adventure, Rose." Delia laughed. "But it could just be, because they don't want us to worry. After all, didn't you say that you, Red and Blue hardly ever told your parents the truth about some of your travelling adventures?".

"That's true." Rose laughed. "I guess as long as she stays in touch on a regular bases and is safe, I don't exactly need to know what she's been getting up to.".

At this moment, Grace checked her wrist watch and almost chocked on her coffee. She quickly finished her drink and stood up in some sort of hurry. This caught the attention of both Delia and Rose.

"Sorry to leave in a hurry but I promised the professor I would take Rhyhorn for him to study today and I guess I lost track of time." Grace apologised.

"Don't worry about it." Delia replied with a smile. "I was actually thinking it would be nice to see some of the boys Pokemon again, so if you wouldn't mind I would like to join you.".

"Of course." Grace smiled. "What about you, Rose?".

"Well I don't have any plans so sure, I would love to join you." Rose smiled in response.

The three mothers finished up their drinks and snakes before preparing to leave. Delia left Mimey in charge, who wasted no-time in cleaning away what was used in the little get together. While the mothers made their way towards the lab.

As they walked along, out of no-where a small black rain cloud appeared, and it started to rain. A summer storm is nothing unusual, but the strange thing is, it only lasted about a minute. Things only got weirder as the light rain turned into snow. This winter weather also only lasted about a minute before the sky cleared back to the normal sun. The three mothers were looking around in confusion.

"What... Just happened?" Grace asked.

"I don't know..." Delia answered. "But I don't like it, maybe we should ask the professor.".

"Good idea, let's go." Rose replied.

The trio set off once again towards the lab, as they did they noticed somethings which were very off. A horde of Pidgey and Spearow were flying together, there were too many to be all a part of the same flock, not to mention Spearow and Pidgey don't live in the same flocks together. A bunch of Diglett and Dugtrio sped across the ground in the same direction that the normal flying types were heading. Along with Mankey's swinging through the trees also in the same direction.

This has to all be connected, the weird weather then the Pokemon all seeming to be heading off in the same direction is too much of a coincidence for it not to be, the women didn't waste much time discussing it though, and wanted to get the Professor's expertise on the matter at hand.

Soon they appeared in the lab, let through by Muk who was apparently acting as the Professor's assistant since Daisy wasn't currently around. The women knew the way through the lab and when Muk pointed in a direction they knew which room the Professor was likely in. They made their way up to the main lab. When they arrived, they found the elderly Professor running around like a headless Torchic.

"Professor." Delia spoke up. This caught the Pokemon Professor's attention and he stopped, turning towards his three guests.

"Hello ladies, pleasure to see you but I am a little busy right now." Professor Oak hurriedly apologised before jumping to his computer and quickly typing something into his machine.

"Is this about the sudden weather change?" Grace asked.

"Yes, I am trying to find out what could've caused it." The professor replied as he finished typing on his computer. The screen seemed to be loading some but was taking a little while to do so.

"It has to mean something in nature is going wrong, somewhere." Rose spoke up. "With how the Pokemon were acting.".

"How so?" The Professor asked.

"On our way here, we saw a bunch of wild Pokemon like Pidgey, Spearow, Diglett, Dugtrio and Mankey." Delia explained. "Just after the weird weather, and they were all heading in the same direction.".

"Now that is worrying, the only Pokemon close enough to affect the weather with that sort of strength..." Rose spoke up with concern evident in her voice.

"... Are Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres." The Professor finished the sentence. Just then his computer made a noise to signify whatever was running was complete. Both the Professor and the women looked at the screen. "... It appears whatever is happening is at the heart of the Orange Archipelago.".

"I'm gonna contact Blue, and try to contact Red as well." Rose stated as she left the room to make the calls.

"Red..." Delia spoke worriedly. "Do you really think he needs to be involved with this, Professor?".

"I'm not sure until I know exactly what we're dealing with." Professor Oak replied thoughtfully. "But if nothing else, I am sure he would want to know what is happening.".

"... I just hope whatever is happening isn't affecting the children." Grace breathed out, clearly worried. She hadn't said a word since learning the source of this strange phenomenon was where her daughter currently is.

"So, do I." Delia added to her friend's statement as she attempted to comfort the scared women.

* * *

The boat had just landed on the island Maren was aiming for, Shamouti Island. Which caused all those present on the boat to sigh in relief, what a stroke of luck that Shamouti Island was close by, as the sea is far too dangerous right now for them to even think about going back out there.

"Is everyone okay?" Maren asked to which she was answered with a collection of groans but nods. "Sorry about the rough landing.".

"It's okay, Maren." Ash reassured. "We're just glad you were able to get us to the island at all.".

The group shakily got up and left the boat, disembarked onto a beach which they were able to land on. Once everyone was off the boat, Ash made sure to take the young fairy type out of his backpack. Togepi was shaken up by the scare event he just went through, despite showing signs of growing up he is very much the baby in many other aspects. The Spikeball Pokemon even had some tears in his eyes.

"Hey Togepi, it's okay." Ash soothed. "Those bad waves are gone now.". He tossed the baby Pokemon into the air a couple of times, which did the trick as the tears were blinked away and replaced with his typical innocent laugh.

"I can hold Togepi for a while." Serena offered. Before answering, Ash looked at the young fairy type who heard the suggestion and turned towards the honey-blonde girl himself. Ash had since stopped bouncing Togepi, and they were just waiting for his response.

"Seren-A." Togepi chirped happily as he reached out with his stubby little arms. He was still having trouble with the 'A' in her name, but it just shows how much he is growing up, although not there yet it can't be too much longer before he is ready for training... Right?

Ash handed the little fairy type to his girlfriend, and Togepi let out a few happy chirps once in Serena's hands. She smiled at the baby Pokemon, from his current mood, one couldn't guess he was just in a horrible storm. Ash smirked as Serena and Togepi shared a quick hug.

"Guess your arms are more comfortable then mine." Ash whispered in his girlfriend's ear in a teasing tone.

A light blush appeared on her cheeks before she fell slightly sideways, so her head landed on Ash's chest. Over the course of the journey, Ash has grown so he is about an inch taller then she is. Ash took the hint and hugged her as she leaned on him.

"Hmm, I don't think so." Serena whispered in response. "Your arms are really comfy as well.". Now it was Ash's turn to blush, although he has to admit he is loving the affection from Serena, guess he really is growing up, just like Togepi.

"Hugging a lot, are we?" Leaf asked as she popped out from behind her two. She had a sly smile on her face which turned into a full-on grin when she saw the couple blush bright red. How she loves to tease them.

"So, what?" Serena asked back, before slightly exiting the embrace and pushing herself up so she could peck Ash's cheek. Ash turned bright red as Serena re-entered the embrace. Serena knows Leaf well enough that this is all just a bit of fun, so she can have fun with it as well. "We can cuddle if we want to.".

"err..." Ash uttered out of complete embarrassment.

"Can you three do whatever _this_ is, later." Drake requested. "Right now, we have company.".

Ash, Serena, Misty, Leaf and Pikachu all turned to Drake. He was looking forward with Cubone in front of him with a hand on a Pokeball, ready to be released. Looking in the direction he was, the group found a horde of people wearing all sorts of weird costumes.

As they faced up against this possible threat, Ash ended the embrace and took an offence stance in front of Serena and Togepi, put his arm up as a sign that if they wanted her, then they would have to go through him. Misty also happened to be, behind Ash at that moment while Leaf was off to the side. Not paying much attention to the obvious danger, she was excited as these weird people might have a Pokemon not registered in the Pokedexes yet. Guess people were right to call her Ash's twin, after all neither of them seem to have a sense of danger. Pikachu took up a battle stance like Cubone, while Ash picked out Aerodactyl's Pokeball.

"Ash..." Serena whispered as Togepi once again had tears in his eyes. Today is just an emotional roller coaster for the little fairy type, first a happy sunny day, then those nasty waves, then his daddy because a bouncy castle, and now this... The Spikeball might need one of those cold cone treats to feel better after this.

"Don't worry, Serena. They won't get to you or Togepi if I have anything to do about it." Ash reassured, although a weird thing is he can normally feel his aura activate when it's about to show up and it has appeared for much smaller threats then this current one so what is going on? Still, Ash doesn't need that to defend himself or his friends. "Ya hear that, I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone here!".

"Hurt?" One of the islanders questioned in a surprisingly friendly voice. "We have no intentions of doing that.".

"Then what are you doing?" Drake asked, sceptical as always. However, the one to originally speak didn't answer straight away and instead turned to Maren who was checking something on her boat.

"Hey Maren, how have you been?" The island asked. "It's been a while.".

"Carol?" Maren questioned when she properly listened to the voice, as conformation the island removed her mask, revealing she was an ordinary teenage girl. "It is you, I've been great thanks for asking. How about yourself?".

"Oh, you know." The islander revealed to be Carol replied with a friendly smile. "But what brings you to Shamouti Island?".

"Well I was escorting Ash and his friend to Pummelo for the league, but we were knocked off course by the storm, so we ended up here." Maren replied.

"Hmm..." One of the islands rubbed where their chin presumably is over their mask when they heard the story, but no-one seemed to notice.

"Well you picked a great time of year for it, the annual Legend Festival starts today." Carol informed with a cheerful smile.

"That's great, it always was my favourite island holiday." Maren replied with a bright smile.

"Um, sorry to interrupt but can someone explain what's going on?" Ash asked, he and Drake had long since stood down, but a few answers would be nice.

"Oh right." Carol sheepish replied with a sweat drop. "Sorry if we startled you, these costumes that you see are a part of our tradition when we celebrate the Legend Festival... And we weren't exactly expecting visitors.".

"So, are these costumes based of any Pokemon in particular?" Leaf blurted out as she jumped forward. She is always on the lookout for possible leads for new Pokemon or variations in existing ones.

"Actually, they are." Carol explained. "We base them off the three legendary birds: Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres. It is believed that they take rest on three neighbouring islands around this time of year when they travel around. Plus, we believe they are referenced in the legend of Shamouti island.".

"Hang on, how can you be sure if you haven't seen them?" Drake asked. "Speaking off, how can you be sure they are the same ones every time?".

"What do you mean, Drake?" Misty asked. "I thought there were only one of each Pokemon classified as legendary.".

"Not exactly Misty, legends can be split into two groups. A class and B class." Drake replied. "A class, means they hold a lot more power and importance to the world, where there is only one. B class are legends believed to be created by the A class ones to assist them, while certainly stronger than the average wild Pokemon, they don't hold the same strength as an A class legend. Due to this, they also aren't immortal meaning the A class would need to create more than one.".

"You really know your stuff." Carol commented impressed with the boy's knowledge. "I don't know if what you said is true, but it would also fit in with our legend.".

"So how does the legend go?" Leaf asked, unable to contain her excitement.

"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice & lighting. Lest these titans reek destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song shall fail. Thus, the world will turn to ash." Carol recited from memory. "Oh, chosen one, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the beast of the sea.".

"So, in this case, the A class legend would be the reference to the water's great guardian." Drake replied thoughtfully. "That does leave several options open for who it could be referring to, Kyogore, Keldeo... But taking an educated guess, I would think it is Lugia.".

"Why Lugia?" Ash asked his brother.

"Well, all three have ties to the water, Lugia has the most ties to the legendary bird trio, since it is also part flying type." Drake answered. "Not to mention, Lugia has strong links with Johto, which isn't too far away from here. Kyogore and Keldeo on the other hand have links to Hoenn and Unova respectively.".

"Well it seems like you already know about the legend despite just appearing." Carol laughed. "Although we don't know who the great guardian is referred to, Lugia is the popular choice, along with the possibility that it could be an unknown Pokemon.".

"Well what do you know, Drake. Looks like all that time reading books wasn't a waste of time." Misty teased. "Still though, I understand that you were a book worm but how did learning about legends and myths help you plan your journey back then?".

"They didn't." Drake replied simply. "I studied them because the subject of legends always fascinated me, they had no bearing on my plan in the long run.".

"Say young man." Another islander approached, also removing his mask, which revealed an older man, presumably the mayor. "How would you like to take part in the legend festival? We need someone to play the part of the chosen one, and I think you would be a good fit.".

"What would I have to do?" Drake asked.

"All you do is play out the legend, travel to the three islands, collect there treasures and bring them back here." The man explained.

"Thanks, but no thanks, it's not really my thing." Drake replied with a bow. "Although my brother might, it is right up his alley.".

"What are you on about, Drake?" Ash asked in surprise.

"Come on Ash, we both know going on an adventure to collect three treasures is much more your thing to do." Drake replied. "Plus, I would think a competing trainer in the Orange League would suit the role of the 'chosen one' much better.".

"Um, well. I guess I can't really deny that." Ash sheepishly replied.

"The ancient legend foretells of your arrival, young man." The mayor boomed as he addressed Ash.

"They do?" Ash asked, slightly on edge.

"That's right! Only with you can the guardian of the waters vanquish the great titans of fire, ice and lightening." The mayor continued with great enthusiasm. For an old guy, he really is energetic. "In your hands, oh chosen one, rests the fate of the world.".

"Um..." Ash sweat dropped.

"Don't worry about it, son. Just go along with the show for the tourists." The mayor whispered.

"I think you should do it, Ash." Leaf encouraged. "It would be just like one of our adventures back in Pallet before we started our journey.".

"And if we're gonna be here until the storm calms down, it could be a good way to pass the time." Misty suggested.

"What do you think, Serena?" Ash turned to his girlfriend. "I mean, it's your birthday. I would hate to think I am taking the focus away from you.".

"From the sounds of it, Ash. This festival is longer than just one day." Serena replied although she was happy he thought of her with his decision. "I think you should do it... What's the worst which could happen?".

"Well I guess I'll do it then." Ash announced as he turned back to the mayor.

"Excellent, Ash." The mayor replied.

"So, Carol, are you going to play the role of the maiden again this year and play your ocarina?" Maren asked her friend, as she moved her hands in front of her mouth to mimic playing the instrument.

"Oh no, I am too old to play that part now." Carol answered before adding an afterthought. "Speaking off, I wonder where she could be.".

"I am right here." A new female voice appeared above them. Looking up from the beach, they found a teenage girl around the same age as: Ash, Serena, Drake and Leaf but unlike the other islanders she is dressed in normal clothes.

"Sheesh! I'm the only one not wearing some sort of dorky costume." The girl claimed in annoyance. "You would think, after several centuries of this you would all grow out of it.".

"How could you have an attitude like that!? You should be honoured." Carol scolded her little sister. "It's our tradition, Melody!".

"Don't worry I will do my part in the festival." Melody waved off her sister in an uncaring manner. "After all, I've only seen you do it a hundred times.".

"Just be there." Carol sighed, before turning back to the group. "Unfortunately, that's my little sister, Melody. Don't be fooled, she isn't always this adorable.".

"So, have you found a chosen one yet or not?" Melody asked with sass as she walked down to the beach.

"We have actually, Ash is going to play the role." Carol replied as she gestured to the raven-haired boy.

"So, you're a Pokemon trainer, huh?" Melody asked as she appeared in front of Ash, while she appeared to be inspecting Ash.

"Yeah, I am." Ash replied, not quite sure where Melody was going with this.

"I guess you'll do." Melody deduced with a smile, before she removed her sunglasses to reveal a couple of powerful blue eyes. "Here's your traditional welcome kiss.".

It was at this point that Melody did something completely unexpected, she leaned forward and softly planted her lips on Ash's cheek. It wasn't just a small peck, either! It lasted for a good five seconds. Ash stood there, completely stunned at the gesture, clearly not expecting it. As is natural, he blushed lightly. He has only been kissed Serena and family members, so this certainly shocked the raven-haired boy.

Misty, Leaf, Drake and Cubone all took a large step away from the honey-blonde girl, once they saw the expression on her face. Pikachu jumped up and grabbed Togepi, to ensure the fairy type didn't get scrambled in the commotion. Joining those who stepped away, Pikachu used his tail to block the view of Togepi and himself, it didn't take a genius to work that whatever was about to happen, it wouldn't be pretty.

Speaking of Serena, if she wasn't holding Togepi then she isn't sure what she would've done. At first, she was as shocked as Ash at the gesture, but by the time Melody had pulled away, she was absolutely rigid. She is the only person who isn't family allowed to kiss her Ash. Melody looked on innocently like she hadn't done anything wrong... Until she saw Serena's expression. She rubbed her chin and addressed the clearly angry girl.

"Hey. Are you Ash's sister?" Melody asked.

"I am NOT his sister." Serena growled through her clenched teeth.

"Oh, then you must be his girlfriend." Melody replied without much care. "Otherwise you wouldn't look so ticked at what I just did.".

"I am, as a matter of fact. My name is Serena." Serena replied as she clenched Ash's arm for emphasis, pulling the raven-haired boy closer to her. This seemed to snap Ash out of his shocked state, but Serena wasn't happy about how quite he has been. "Say something Ash.".

"Err, yeah. Serena's my girlfriend." Ash muttered as he was still trying to process what has happened.

"Gee, thanks." Serena muttered in annoyance. "You seem so thrilled about it.".

"Take a chill pill, Serena. I didn't mean anything by the stupid little kiss." Melody reassured. "You can still have your Ash.".

Serena ignored the girl and turned to Ash. Seeing him still in a shocked state, even if more responsive, worried Serena even more. Unwittingly, she gripped Ash's hand as she looked pleading at him. "Ash... Her kiss didn't affect you that much, did it?".

"Don't worry Serena, I only have eyes for you." Ash reassured, as he embraced her in a loving hug. "I'm sorry, for how I reacted. I was shocked because I was caught off guard.".

Serena relaxed into the hug, as she listened to what he said. She was right, Ash's arms are comfy. She also realised she was just being sill, of course Ash was shocked, so his reaction was completely natural. He wasn't interested in Melody. She shouldn't get so jealous at the first sign of trouble, she trusts Ash.

"There, all better?" Melody asked in a surprising sympathetic tone.

"Yeah." Serena smiled, just because they got off on the wrong foot doesn't mean they can't start over, she won't hold any bitter feeling towards Melody.

"Good." Melody smiled before turning back to her older sister. "And with that, I will be happy to perform at the Legend Festival Banquet tonight.".

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Carol asked suspiciously.

"No reason." Melody replied with a hidden smirk. She started to walk away, but quickly turned back and looked at the couple. "Oh, and Serena. Try not to get jealous.".

With that Melody start to sort of skip away with her hands behind her back. Serena wasn't going hold any bitter feelings towards her until Melody said that. The honey-blonde girl grabbed a hold of Ash's arm. It was clear that she was in another of her clingy moods, but she is normally like this after some sort of date or when Ash does something heroic. Not this time, she is doing it too keep Ash in line.

Ash sighed as he knew he didn't have much choice, he was Serena's boyfriend, he just hopped the two girls could get along. After all, it is Serena's birthday. He would hate for her day to be ruined by some stranger. He would need to find some way to defuse the situation peacefully.

* * *

The group was now sat at a table in a giant hall. The whole room was lit up with fire torches and perfectly fit with the tropical paradise setting, the other tables were filled with islanders. The group has already eaten from the buffet provided so it was time for Serena to open her gifts.

"Open mine first." Leaf excitedly handed the birthday girl a present similar in shape to the ones she sent to the two brothers. It isn't all too surprising Leaf was the first to hand a present over, due to her hyper active she was always the first to hand over presents. It was just like it was her birthday.

Serena thanked her friend as she accepted the present. The honey-blonde girl opened the present to reveal a book, although it wasn't the same one she got the two brothers. This one was all about Pokemon contests, titled 'Beginning Steps Towards the Grand Festival' and it was written by a top coordinator named Wallace Mikuri.

"Thank you Leaf." Serena thanked as she stood up and gave a brief hug to her friend. Sitting back down, Misty was the next to hand over her present, which was a sort of small box. Serena accepted the present. "Thank you, Misty.".

The birthday girl opened the present and pulled out a pack off black cards. She didn't need to be told what they were, she received an advertisement on her Pokegear, just like the brothers have. These are the key to free updates released only last week. Upgrades which include: a more up-to-date map which even reveals the Pokemon in the nearby area, a programme to store and play music not needing the radio feature and a camera feature.

"These are great Misty. I was considering getting them myself, now I don't have to." Serena explained as she thanked the girl with a friendly hug. Once she sat back down, Drake silently pushed a present over to her. Which was sort of a soft present. "Thank you, Drake.".

Serena opened the present to reveal a bag, but it wasn't one like what she has on her back. It was more of a black leather carry-on bag. To be honest, it was a little weird that Drake got her one because not only does it seem like something completely out of his comfort zone, but it was a toiletry bag, talk about embarrassing.

"I didn't know what to get you, and I remember Misty complaining about you sharing her bag." Drake explained himself.

"Oh um, thank you Drake." Serena thanked again with a sweat drop as she put the bag into her backpack. While she is grateful as she would be for any other gift, something like this is a little embarrassing to receive. This would be more of a personal item to buy herself.

"Here Serena, you mum sent this over for you." Leaf passed a rectangle shaped box over to the birthday girl.

Serena thanked the brunette as she accepted the present. Placing it on the table, she opened the box to reveal a dress. Serena took the clothing item out of the box and held it against her. She has to admit that this is the second great outfit her mum picked for her, maybe she was too hard on her mother.

"Okay Serena, the last one." Ash handed his gift over, it was a black box. Serena folded her new dress and placed it in the box, due to the late time and time difference she would have to call her mother in the morning to thank her.

Saying a word of thanks to her boyfriend, she opened the present. Inside was a bag, but unlike the one Drake got her, this one was a handbag with heart shaped patterns all over it. Just from the look of it, this must've cost Ash an arm. Opening the bag revealed a purse with the same design, which would've also cost Ash a leg, finally she opened the purse and found an image of the two of them back at the summer camp where they met.

"Oh, thank you Ash..." Serena thanked as she held her hands over her heart. Ash had a sheepishly looked as he scratched the back of his head, Serena may not know how but Ash always seems to give her the best presents. She really is lucky to have him for a boyfriend.

It was at this moment that the lights went down, and a beautiful song rang out across the hall. A few spotlights lit up the stage. Another sound soon added which was accompanied by Melody who danced out onto the stage while playing an ocarina. Melody was in a far different outfit from earlier, now supporting a simple white dress, definitely suitable for a maiden. She also hands brown sandals on her feet, along with a flower head piece. The group was shocked at the change from earlier.

Melody continued to dance around the stage as she played the small instrument in her hands. Everyone was captivated by the performance... Almost everyone. It was easy to get lost in the movements. Unknown to anyone else, Serena was becoming slight agitated as she worried about how Melody is going to act towards Ash, while she trusts her boyfriend, she isn't so sure about this girl though.

After around three minutes, Melody finished her performance in the centre of the stage and bowed as the hall erupted in applause. The spotlights faded as the normal lights we're re-lit. As the applause came to an end, Melody ran off the stage and soon found Ash. She kneeled in front of him, spreading out her hands as they Ash watched with intrigue and Serena watched behind Ash with suspicion.

"Hear ye all! From the trio of islands, ancient spheres shall you take! From between life and death, all the difference you will make!" Melody declared as she stared Ash directly in the eye, with a pleading look. Melody also grabbed one of Ash's hands. "Oh, chosen one. You must climb to the shrine, to right what is wrong, and the world will be healed by the guardian's song.".

"Sooooo... What do I do?" Ash asked with a sheepish grin.

"I just told you, Ash." Melody replied with a wink, breaking character for a second. That added to Serena's current feelings, so far Melody spoke like she is from an old times but that wink, and flirtatious tone can't be a part of the show, can it?

"I heard that but what do I have to do?" Ash asked, being clueless and not playing apart

"It isn't that hard Ash, not for you anyway." Melody replied in a flirtatious tone. She stood up and sat in front of Ash, much to Serena's annoyance, this is definitely not a part of the show. "Almost all of the chosen ones come back alive.".

"Melody!" Carol scolded from somewhere in the hall.

"What do you mean by 'almost'?" Ash asked with a voice crack.

"Relax, I am just kidding." Melody giggled cutely at Ash's reaction. She picked up three oranges from the fruit bowl on the table. "All you have to do is collect the three treasures from the three neighbouring islands. Fire island, ice island and lightening island.".

"Well that sounds easy enough." Ash declared as he looked around to his friends. "What do you say guys, ready to go?".

"Hold on, Ash." Melody stopped him. "You need to do this yourself, only you and your Pokemon. Maren has offered to drive the boat for you, but she can't help you explore the islands. You bring the treasures back here and we celebrate with the guardian's song.".

"Alright then..." Ash replied, slightly disappointed that his friends couldn't accompany him. "I guess we will set off tomorrow, do I get a cool costume?".

"Sorry, it's just come how you are." Melody replied, but then she winked. "Besides, you look perfect to me.". That was enough to make the raven-haired boy blush slightly. He has been trying to ignore her flirting, but that one combined with the rest of it has lead towards too much.

"Um, right." Ash blushed before turning towards Serena. "Well since we still have this party tonight, so what do you say Serena. Wanna continue your birthday celebration.".

Serena was overjoyed with Ash's response, he just completely shot Melody and all her flirting down in one go. He has just done possibly the best thing possible to deal with the situation. Melody stood up and walked away, but she didn't seem the slightest bit upset.

With the show over, the group continued the party into the night. It was full of laughs, dancing and over all good times. The mayor got them a place in a hotel since there isn't a Pokemon centre on this island. It is free of charge. Once it was late, the group went to bed. Ash would have an early start and his friends would be sure to see him off.

* * *

Ash gave a massive yawn as he slumped out of bed. He woke Drake up, and quickly the two boys got dressed. They went down stairs to the dock where Maren was waiting with a boat, much smaller than the one from before. The rest of the group were also waiting.

"Hey guys." Ash greeted his friends. They all replied with their own greetings but were quite tired due to it being early in the morning.

"Are you ready to go, Ash?" Maren asked. "I've done this before and it is best to get an early start. The weather seems somewhat normal for now, but after yesterday's surprise storm I wouldn't want to make any assumptions.".

"Yeah, I'm ready." Ash replied. "What about you, buddy?".

"Do you even need to ask?" Pikachu asked with a confident smirk.

"Serena, can you keep Togepi please?" Ash asked his girlfriend. "I don't think this adventure is exactly the right place for him.".

"Of course, Ash." Serena replied as she accepted the fairy type.

"Thanks." Ash replied as he pecked her cheek.

He climbed up onto the boat where Maren was waiting. Maren checked that everything was ready for the adventure, before giving cheeking that Ash was ready. Despite not telling his team what they we're doing, he knows they are good enough to be ready anyway. Confirming to Maren that he was ready, the group bid each other goodbye, like mentioned last night, Ash had to do this on his own. He could only have his Pokemon come with him and someone to drive the boat. Within minutes Ash, Pikachu and Maren were off into the sea towards the first of the three treasures. The first island would be Fire Island...

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	18. The Power of One P II

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the second part of The Power of One arc. Plus, something special happens quite early on, originally this was going to happen in the Indigo League but when writing it, it didn't feel right, so I put it off, so I could write about the character concerned in depth both before and after this event. I don't have much else to say, as I just want to get on with this chapter. Remember to vote in the latest poll, it will be up until the end of the Power of One arc. Oh, and happy new year. I know I have been updating a lot recently but that's because I had some time off work for the holidays, now that is over expect the updates to go back to twice a month. Plus, I have put the Johto Chapter list up on my profile to make up for putting my other series SIS, on a temporary hiatus. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 18: The Power of One P II_

"We believe the cause of this weather, is located in the northern-central section of the Orange Islands." A news reported explained over the TV, which Delia, Grace, and Rose were watching as Professor Oak worked. "The effects have already extended to the nearby Kanto and Johto regions, whilst showing no signs of slowing down.".

The three mothers gasped when they heard that, while not sure of their children's exactly location in the region, they know that they would've been travelling north towards Pummelo Island, which according to the map on the screen is in the possible cause section.

Strong winds wrestled against the trees outside, sending a howling sound throughout the lab. It was so bad that the Professor had to recall all the Pokemon. One might think this is just a regular server summer storm but with what happened earlier, they all doubted it. According to the news reports, the cause of this weather is due to strange phenomenon below the sea's surface, which was tracked to the kid's location.

"Why is it that whenever something bad happens lately, the kids seem to be at the centre of it?" Grace sobbed as she came to terms with the news reports.

"I know, Grace." Delia sobbed as she attempted to comfort her friend. "I just want my babies to be safe.".

"I'm not too happy with this current situation, either." The Professor spoke up, thoughtfully. "Blue and Green are already putting in an action plan to help Kanto, Arceus forbid it come to that, so I say we take a special trip to the Orange Islands to see if we can solve this problem and help the children.".

It was at this point that the Professor's video phone started to ring. The elderly Professor quickly answered the phone, as the mothers prepared the little things they had to get ready. The person revealed to have called the Professor was Professor Ivy.

"Samuel, we're having serious problems here." The female Professor immediately said as soon as the call was answered. Due to the seriousness of the situation they skipped formalities and got straight to the matter at hand.

"Go ahead, Philena." Professor Oak replied. "What's going on?".

"Other than the storm, the Pokemon are behaving very strangely." Professor Ivy explained. "The water types have swum away, while flying types are flying away. But those which can do neither are also trying to find a way off the island, even some of the water and flying types are carrying those which can't do either.".

As if to emphasis the point of how crazy things were getting, Brock appeared in the background in a clear panic, with his Omanyte wrapped around his face. It seemed like the Water Rock type was trying to lead the breeder somewhere, only Brock didn't know where.

"They are?" The Professor gasped, ignoring the breeder for the time being. Something like this is very unnatural. The Pokemon on Valencia Island have all been raised by Philena, none of them have even gone out for a swim without her. Not to mention them carrying those that are land-bound is practically unheard off.

"Even weirder, they aren't diverting once leaving the island." Professor Ivy explained. "They are all heading towards the heard of the region, which makes me think that whatever is going on, that is the source.".

"Hmm, I don't like this one bit." Professor Oak muttered as he tried to think over the new information. "I'll be making a visit over to the Orange Islands to help you investigate this, please keep me informed Philena.".

"I will Professor." Professor Ivy replied. "Stay safe.". With the conversation over, the phone call ended, and the screen turned black. Professor Oak turned around and looked at the women.

"Well ladies, we're heading off to the Orange Islands." Professor Oak informed. "We'll fly there by helicopter.".

* * *

It's been about an hour since Ash and Maren set off on their quest to collect the three treasures. The group is currently sat in the hall from last night, which doubles as a cafe during the day, since the outside his currently raining heavily, they can't help but worry about how Ash is coping in this weather.

Serena is watching Togepi on the table, who is holding up a bone with great difficulty. Cubone is also sat on the table, sulking that his greatest weapon has been reduced to little more than a child's play thing.

"Stop mopping, Cubone." Drake told the ground type. He is kneeling next to the table, giving Ponyta her daily brush. Despite travelling with the group for a while now, he is still not a people person and since Ash isn't here he is less comfortable than normal. Not to mention Leaf scares him.

"Bone, Cu bone." Cubone groaned in response.

Suddenly, the ground type was hit on the head by his own bone. It turns out Togepi was trying to hold it high in the air, but his stubby little arms made that task rather difficult. As soon as the bone reached a certain height, the fairy type lost control and started to waddle over the table. Unable to keep it up for long, the bone fell down, and just so happened hit the ground type on his head.

"Bone Cubone, Bone!" Cubone shouted at the fairy type which brought tears to the Spikeball Pokemon's eyes.

Drake looked at the ground type with a raised eye browl, Cubone is normally calm, sure he can be a little sarcastic, but he isn't one to get worked up. Although this isn't the first time he has seen this behaviour, as it is like how Machamp was back as a Machop shortly before evolving, same as Victreebel when he was a Bellsprout, and he has heard Ash's Ivysaur was acting a little weird just before he evolved. It isn't unlikely for a Pokemon to act weird around their evolution.

"Calm down, Cubone." Drake instructed before an idea came to his mind. He pulled out a Pokeball. "Come on out, Machamp.".

In a flash of light, Machamp appeared. Unlike a lot of Pokemon who feel the need to make a powerful entrance with roar, Machamp is what many would call the strong silent type. He doesn't need to announce his strength, he does that in battle. He instantly looked at his trainer expectantly.

"Machamp, Cubone seems to have a little energy to burn." Drake explained as he gave the fighting type a knowing look. Machamp gave a small nod to signify he understand the hidden message within Drake's message. "Think you can spar with him, don't cause too much damage though.".

The fighting type nodded and walked over to the stage where Melody performed last night since it was the most open area. Cubone grabbed his bone and followed the Superpower Pokemon. He has no clue what's going on but for a couple days now something has been bothering him, getting hit on the head just made it pop which is why he lashed out at Togepi. He trusts Drake though, so if he says sparring will help then sparring is what he will do.

Once Cubone made it to Machamp, the fighting type told the ground type something. Nodding in understanding, the ground type took a battle stance before going on the attack. He was jumping up, swinging his bone around and just plain kicking and punching. Since they are in doors, they agreed on no 'battle moves'. Machamp used his four arms to block each of Cubone's attacks, which only seemed to anger the ground type, whose attack pattern became more frenzied.

"Are you sure that was a smart move, Drake?" Misty asked. "Surely it would be better to let Cubone cool down and not get worked up.".

"Call it trainer's instinct." Drake replied. "I have a feeling I know what is causing Cubone's behaviour and this is the quickest and easiest way to sort it out.".

"What do you think it is?" Leaf asked as she kneeled down next to the raven-haired boy. Drake instantly became nervous as the brunette attempted to get close. The fire horse Pokemon seemed to notice Drake's uneasiness and put herself between the two trainers, turning around so her other side could be brushed.

Drake silently thanked the fire type before starting to brush her second side. "I don't wanna say, if Cubone hears and it isn't what I think it could bring him down. Plus, if it is what I think, then you'll see it soon enough.".

The raven-haired boy continued to brush Ponyta, not paying the slightest bit of attention to Leaf, much to her annoyance. Why won't he show her the slightest bit of interesting or attention. Surely, he must be growing up, if Ash is ready to have a girlfriend then why isn't Drake?

"Morning all." A female voice sounded out.

All of the group looked towards the source and gasped at who they found. Except for Serena who instantly turned away and started to play with Togepi, just because Ash proved that he wasn't interested, she still doesn't want anything to do with the girl who has tried to steel Ash away.

"I was hoping to catch Ash before he left on his chosen one, quest." Melody explained. "I spoke to the mayor and he was happy to hold it off until the weather clears up, so, where is he?".

"He already left with Maren, about an hour ago." Misty answered. "The waters seemed calm enough when they left.".

"What!" Melody exclaimed. "But there is a massive storm right above us, and according to news reports weird weather patterns are happening all over the world with this location in the source.".

"I'm gonna get him." Serena declared as she stood up, tightly gripping a Pokeball which presumably contains her Kingdra, since that is her strongest swimmer.

"I need to go after him as well, as the maiden role it is my responsibility." Melody replied. "I am taking my boat, you are all welcome to join as well.".

Serena grunted but put the Pokeball back onto her belt, she hates to admit it but going by boat would be both a lot quicker and safer. As much as she doesn't want to, she can survive a boat ride with this girl if it means she is able to find Ash and make sure he is safe.

The group, except for Serena, said a word of thanks to Melody for offering them the chance to go with her and they all started to pack up their stuff, even putting on rain coats. Serena had a pink one, tucking Togepi inside to keep him warm and dry, Misty has a yellow one, Drake's is red, Leaf has a dark(ish) green and Melody has an Orange one. Drake returned Ponyta before turning his attention to his other two Pokemon.

Machamp is looming over the ground type, with one of his arms on the bone, pushing down hard while Cubone had his two arms stretched also holding the bone, trying to hold the fighting type off. Machamp was clearly not using his full strength, just enough to challenge Cubone and push him to his limits. Before any words could be uttered, Cubone glew white. Machamp instantly stopped and stood up tall. Guess this was just the motivation he needed. When the glowing stopped, a Marowak stood where Cubone once was. Drake pulled out his Pokedex and scanned the newly evolved ground type:

 _Marowak, The Bone Keeper Pokemon. The Final evolved form of Cubone. They thump their bones rhythmically to communicate among themselves. There are nearly 50 different rhythmic patterns._

 _Type: Ground_

 _Ability: Rock Head_

 _Hidden Ability: Battle Armor (Note: This hidden ability is unlocked)._

 _Gender: Male_

 _Nature: Quirky (Note: This nature is unlikely to change due to him being fully evolved)_

 _Move(s): Growl, Tail Whip, Bone Club, Headbutt, Leer, Focus Energy, Bonemerang, Rage, Fury Swipes, Thrash, Fling, Stomping Tantrum, Endeavour, Double Edge, Retaliate, Bone Rush, Smack Down, Rock Tomb, Brick Break, Aerial Ace, Swords Dance, Earthquake_

 _Held Item: Thick Club (this item is known for being used by the Marowak line as their weapon of choice)_

"Well done, Marowak. Congratulations." Drake praised as he approached the two Pokemon. "And thank you Machamp, take a rest.".

The fighting type was recalled to his Pokeball as Marowak looked himself over. He has definitely gotten taller, plus he feels a lot stronger. Was this the reason he has been feeling strange for the last couple of days? Well he doesn't feel that way right now, so it must be.

"So, what do you say, buddy. Wanna test out your evolution with a little test?" Drake asked as he smirked at his partner. Marowak returned the smirk, while upset because he clearly won't be able to ride on Drake's shoulder anymore, he is happy to be getting stronger. He is up to any test Drake has in mind.

* * *

Dark storm clouds now covered the sky which Ash, Pikachu and Maren were travelling under. The storm clouds are also quite choppy, not to different from the scenario yesterday. Due to this being a smaller, and thus lighter boat, Maren was able to expertly steer it through any sort of waves which blocked their path. With fire island coming up on the horizon, they agreed to make their way there and hopefully wait out the storm.

"We're almost there!" Maren yelled as she tried to forcefully turn the boat. Then they saw it, the biggest wave yet stood in front of them. Just from the looks of it, going around it wasn't an option and going over it would likely destroy the ship. "Oh no...".

Ash acted on impulse and gripped one of his Pokeballs before throwing it forward with all his might. "Blastoise, use Ice Beam then Skull Bash!".

In a flash of light, the pure water type appeared in between the wave and the boat. He didn't have time to properly aim but he trusts his trainer, and he shot a powerful Ice Beam straight ahead, which froze the wave in its tracks. Once it assumed this wave was what his trainer wanted rid of, Blastoise entered a Skull Bash, shooting through the frozen wave making it smash up on impact. The wave crumbled into nothing as the boat slowly sailed past where the threat once was.

"Awesome job, Blastoise. Thank you." Ash thanked the Shellfish Pokemon. He was panting heavily as he tried to recompose himself after the near-death experience.

"Thank you, Ash... And Blastoise." Maren thanked. The water type smirked at all the attention he was getting, before pulling his sunglasses out of his shell. "Do you think you can guild us to that island, Blastoise. To make sure we don't almost drown again.".

Blastoise nodded in agreement and started to swim towards the island at a decent pace, as Maren started the boat up again, following behind at a kind of slow pace, since she doesn't want to risk damaging the only way they have to get back.

Eventually, the boat made it to Fire Island with everyone intact, which was a miracle within itself. Ash thanked and returned Blastoise before stepping onto the land to look around. Maren soon joined them.

"Since we're here, I might as well try to find the treasure of the island." Ash told Maren. "Will you be alright here, on your own?".

"Sure, I won't be going anywhere until the storm is over anyway." Maren replied. "In the legend, this island is meant to be the resting place of the legendary Pokemon Moltres, and the festival is meant to take place around the time it awakens to continues its travels so be careful.".

"Gotcha." Ash smiled as he gave her a thumbs up. He took off into the island, going up a stair case which was built on the side of the mountain. As Ash and Pikachu ran along the electric mouse Pokemon's ears picked up. Suddenly, he jumped off Ash's shoulder and sped ahead of the raven-haired boy.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was speeding towards Fire Island. Melody was using some sort of speed boat so even though they also have the storm to deal with, they would be quickly catching up with Ash and Maren. It turned out that Melody was very skilled with her boat, every time she came up to a big wave, she was expertly avoiding it by either swaying around it or riding over it, depending on which is most effective.

"That was actually quite good." Serena praised as she tried to catch her breath after the terrifying experience.

"I've been around boats my whole life and was taught to drive one since I was little." Melody informed. "There's no need to be scared, I've boated across bigger waves for fun.".

"I never get scared on the water." Misty replied with confidence. "I come from a family which specialise in water type Pokemon.".

"Even when its acting like this?" Leaf asked in a teasing tone.

"Well... Under normal I wouldn't get scared on the water." Misty sheepishly replied.

Melody smiled to the orange haired girl, it was nice to have a somewhat friendly conversation with this group. She isn't an idiot to think that everything is fine between her and them, but she didn't try to hurt them on purpose. She is a flirty person by nature, so it was just her way to make this whole festival fun. She has no interest in Ash, she only wanted to have some fun. Hopefully she hasn't messed things up for the couple.

"Watch out!" Drake shouted.

Another wave, twice the size of the last one. It was virtually impossible for them to even attempt to go around it. Melody narrowed her eyes and sped up to the boats top speed. Pulling back on the wheel, the boat shot up the side of the wave. The group clenched onto anything they could as the boat shot of the top of the wave into the air, which caused the group to scream in fear.

"Hold on." Melody clenched her teeth as she continued to handle the boat.

The boat landed roughly in the water, and it was with very jagged motions. The group were all thrown, and Serena was unable to hold onto the young fairy type who flew towards the opposite side of the boat. Before anyone could react, Marowak dived and caught the baby before landing next to the rails. A long time ago, back when he first joined Drake's team he was a scared and timid Pokemon, not surprising since he saw his mother shot in front of him, but now he didn't even hesitate.

With the island approaching the boat started to slow down as it washed up next to fire island. The group was trying to collect themselves as they arrived at their destination. Marowak carried the frightened fairy type over to Serena, who thanked the ground type. Thank Arceus Marowak acted so quickly, Serena doesn't know what she would've done if Togepi landed in the water, or what would've happened or how she could've explained it to Ash.

"Are you guys alright?" Maren asked once she identified who just turned up.

"Yeah. We're fine." Melody informed while trying to catch her breath. "Where's Ash?".

"He & Pikachu went off to try and find the treasure." Maren informed. "It should just be a straight shot up these stairs, from what I know about this island.".

"Got it, thanks." Melody informed before pressing a button.

If the group was impressed by her boating skills, they were outright gobsmacked as a sail shot out of the boat. This was unexpected as it is rare for speed boats to have such a tool, although it could be in case the motor dies on the sea. The wind hit the sail, and using some more of her boating skills, Melody rode the boat up the stairs, like it was flying.

"What the... How does this thing fly!?" Misty asked in shock

"It only flies, if you know how." Melody answered smartly.

The boat continued to fly up the stairs as the group went after Ash and Pikachu. Maren attempted to call out to them, telling them to be careful but due to the loud noises from all over and the distance it didn't reach the group. Ultimately, it wouldn't really matter as these kids would go after Ash regardless of what she said.

* * *

After chasing his electric starter for a few minutes, Ash reached the top of the stairs, slightly out of breath. As he desperately tried to re-fill his lungs with air, he looked around where he arrived. It was some sort of ancient shrine, which looked like it could've been some sort of alter but over time damage has clearly been done with what looks like pillars being broken apart.

In the centre of the shrine was some sort of stone stand with Pikachu in front of it, transfixed on whatever is at the centre of the structure. With his breathing back to normal, Ash walked over to his starter, when he saw what seemed to be a sort of red orb stuck in the structure. It didn't take a massive leap to assume this is the treasure he was meant to collect. With his target here, Ash grabbed the treasure and pulled it out.

"Check it out Pikachu." Ash smiled as he showed the electric type the orb in his hand. "The first treasure.".

"Great." Pikachu replied as he climbed back up his trainer's body, perching on Ash's shoulder once more as the raven-haired boy placed the item in his backpack.

"Why did you run off, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"I... Don't know." Pikachu answered honestly. "Something has been feeling off, but it kind of intensified since arriving on this island. Whatever is causing it, lead me to this treasure... I wouldn't be surprised if my instincts are also trying to get me to the other treasures.".

Ash nodded in understanding but before looking at the storm, these are some really strange weather patterns and while normally he would pass it off as any other storm, Pikachu's weird behaviour is making him think that this could be more than just a strange coincidence. Maybe, just maybe, this whole thing is happening for real and they have to get the other treasures. He might not have a lot of evidence and braving that storm again is anything but safe. But Aerodactyl has always called him the chosen one, so he just has a gut feeling that things won't get better until the legend plays out. Hopefully he can convince Maren of that.

"Come on buddy, we aren't doing much just standing around here." Ash told Pikachu as he turned to make his way back down the stairs.

Before even making to the staircase, a boat flew up to the only opening and skidded to a stop. If it wasn't crazy enough to see a boat up here, the people who climbed off the boat was more than enough to shock Ash. It was Serena, Leaf, Misty and Drake, while Melody decided to wait on the boat. Serena and Leaf charged a head and embraced Ash with tight hugs. Leaf let go after about half a minute while Serena loosened her grip but refused to let go. Lucky, Togepi was in her backpack so he wasn't dropped or crushed in the embrace. Drake and Misty stood back, where Leaf joined them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ash asked as he hugged Serena back.

"We came to make sure you were safe." Serena replied as she refused to let go.

"Of course, I'm..." Ash went to reassure but was cut off by a loud screech from the sky.

Looking up, the group gasped at what they saw. A large yellow and black bird which seemed to be a symbol of lightening itself. Ash, Serena and Leaf gasped as they recognised it as the Pokemon they met at the Power Plant back in Kanto. This was very concerning, not just because of the obvious threat of what seems to be an excited legendary Pokemon but also because Maren said this was meant to be Moltres' nesting ground, what is Zapdos doing here?

Unfortunately, they didn't get the chance to ask it as the electric flying type let out another load screech, but this one sounded more like a battle cry. Out of no-where, dozens of black rings covered the sky. Zapdos launched off a bunch of electric attacks but no of them seemed to have an effect on whatever these black rings are. Soon Zapdos was over powered by the sheer number of rings, which began to surround the legend as some sort of container.

"Dark times ahead..." Ash muttered to himself. "And the world is at threat.".

"What was that, Ash?" Serena asked.

"Remember back to Seafoam Island?" Ash asked, to which Serena nodded in response. "Well I just remembered what Articuno said... What all of them said. Putting it together, they mentioned a dark time for the three of them, where they called me the chosen one and how the world would be at stake.".

"This festival is based around the three of them... And you were given the role of the chosen one." Serena replied as it clicked in her mind. "And according to the news reports, the whole planet is being affected by this weather, with this general area being the source.".

"Why do I get the feeling we are way out of our depth?" Ash asked grimly, as Drake, Leaf and Misty walked closer.

Before anyone could answer the raven-haired boy, disaster struck once again. Some of the left-over rings which weren't surrounding Zapdos, began to launch towards the group. It seems that they are built to capture anything that moves.

Ash used his body to cover Serena and Pikachu, not sure how else they can escape these things which just captured a legendary, effortlessly. The others also attempted to find cover, but it was no use. Soon the rings surrounded them, leaving them in one giant sphere which would shock them. Being lifted into the air, the group noticed a massive air ship above the clouds. Looking closely, they saw the trapped Zapdos being taken into some sort of cargo bay, and they were heading in the same direction.

* * *

Sat in his seat, Lawrence III had a smug smile crossed his face. He just watched his computer model which showed he had captured Zapdos without a problem, two down, one to go. With both Moltres and Zapdos in his possession, it is only a matter of time before the final treasure, Articuno is in his grasp. Then he can claim the beast of the sea, Lugia, and fulfil his rightful role as the chosen one.

Suddenly, two spherical cages appeared in his main room. One contained the legendary fire Pokemon, Moltres, while the second contained the legendary electric Pokemon, Zapdos. Moltres has near about given up, with the shocks delivered each time it moves, the fire flying type isn't even attempting to escape. Due to not being as affected by the electricity, plus being free not too long ago, Zapdos is still struggling against his restraints.

"Ah, only one remains." Lawrence III smiled to himself. As he looked at the two legends, as their cages disappeared once more. "Don't worry, Articuno shall join you soon. Then... The real fun begins.".

His collection was one step close to his grand prize. It has been Lawrence's dream since he was a young boy, to make a collection unlike any other. With the rate at which he was going, there is no-doubt that he will reach it. Not every could claim to have so much as seen one of the legendary bird trio, let alone capture two of them and not hardly anyone could claim they wanted his grand prize, which he is soon to obtain... Lugia.

"Code Blue, three! When capturing Zapdos, we managed to collect something extra." The computer informed.

"Something more?" Lawrence III repeated with surprise and intrigue.

"Yes. Shall we dispose of them?" The computer asked.

"No, no. I shall see what it is first." Lawrence III replied as he pressed a button to stop the time alerts for the time being.

* * *

The group was now in Lawrence III's collection room. Stuck inside a spherical cage, lucky it was no longer trying to shock them. Despite being trapped like some poached Pokemon, the group were in awe at what surrounded them. It appeared to be some sort of museum filled with different artefact's. Unfortunately, the awe disappeared when they saw what else was in the room.

In two separate cages, just like the ones they are stuck in, were Zapdos and Moltres. Zapdos was clearly firing off different electric attacks as it struggled to escape, although all its struggling was pointless. Moltres was lying down, seemingly defeated but looking closely showed some of its wounds being healed, it was clearly using Roost to restore the energy it lost when it too attempted to escape.

"This is crazy, how did we end up getting caught up in this?" Misty asked, clearly distressed.

"Calm down, Misty." Drake told her sternly. "Panicking isn't helping, maybe we can find some way out of this.".

"Have you come up with anything?" Leaf asked as she sat by his side.

"The metal seems to be a sort of alloy which delivers electric shocks when any sort of attempt is made." Drake explained. "In theory, we could weaken the metal by rapidly changing the temperature. But we would need some way to draw the electricity, so it can't hurt us.".

"So, we just need to do the impossible." Misty snapped. "Any other bright ideas?".

"Well... We could always try and activate Ash's aura, and use that to break it apart." Drake suggested. The group all turned towards the raven-haired boy who was trying to comfort Serena, with Togepi who was taken out of Serena's backpack, to ensure he was also save.

"Sorry guys but I haven't even felt the slightest hint of aura." Ash replied. "I haven't even felt any for a couple of days, which is weird as I would've thought it would've activate when we were in that storm.".

"Aura!?" Melody, who had remained silent up to that point, exclaimed. The group sweat dropped as they realised that she was captured along with them, except she was in a separate container to them since she was further away back on the island. The group was trying to think of how to approach this when Leaf got an idea.

"Hey, what's that?" She asked as she pointed to a sort of scroll hanging on the wall, in an attempt to change the topic.

"It's an ancient scroll relating to the legend of Shamouti, I am able to translate it." Melody explained before reading off the scroll. "Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice & lighting. Lest these titans reek destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song shall fail. Thus, the world will turn to ash.".

Suddenly, a part of the ceiling opened up and a sort of chair was lowered down with a man sat in it. The chair continued to be lowered until it reached the floor, with the man facing them with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, chosen one, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the beast of the sea." Lawrence III completed the legend. "Well, now you know the legend, I must say this is unexpected.".

"Thanks to these stupid capture devices of you." Misty grunted in response

"I must apologies for that." Lawrence III chuckled darkly. "My machines are still a prototype, they are designed to go after living creatures. I hope to provide them an upgrade which sets out certain targets, and nothing more.".

"So, will you let us out of here?" Leaf asked with a deadpan expression.

"Oh yes, of course." Lawrence III replied as he clicked a few buttons on the arm of his chair.

The cages containing the group raised up from the ground, the rings moved into a pile, which created an opening under the group which they fell through, landing on the floor with hard thumps. Although both Moltres and Zapdos were still trapped.

"Gee, thanks." Misty groaned as she and the others rubbed their sore behinds.

The collector ignored her comment and stood up from his chair. "Now, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lawrence III, and as from the legend you just read, I am sure you can work out. I am the chosen one, so to speak.".

"Your also modest." Leaf mumbled under her breath.

"I am also a vivid collector of all types." Lawrence III continued, either not hearing Leaf's comment or choosing to ignore it. "I am sure you have spotted the latest two additions to my collection. Moltres, the bird of fire and Zapdos, the bird of lightening. All I am missing is Articuno to complete my set.".

"Pokemon are living creatures, not meant to be trapped and stuck in some sort of collection!" Ash shouted in anger. "That's a horrible thing to say! What kind of trainer are you!".

"I already told you, I am a collector. Not a trainer." Lawrence III replied with an arrogant smirk. "Now, can you please explain to me what it is that I am doing wrong? Exactly.".

"It's wrong of you too trap Pokemon like that!" Ash shouted in anger.

"Oh really, trapping Pokemon is wrong?" Lawrence III questioned. "So, what are those Pokeballs on your belt for?".

"What are you talking about?" Serena asked. "Pokeballs aren't like your cages.".

"Then what are they for?" Lawrence III asked. "They are only used to trap Pokemon inside, for you to let out when you see fit.".

That caught the group of guard with that statement, they never even thought of Pokeballs like that. They each took a quick glance down to their own Pokeballs with concerned expressions. Are they truly only trapping their Pokemon like this collector?

"Except I see one major difference between your cages and Pokeballs." Drake spoke up. "One is officially licensed and sold across the planet as a safe and secure way for trainers and Pokemon to travel together. The other releases a form of torture by shocked the creature the moment they so much as move.".

"Huh." Lawrence III replied without much of a response.

"Sensors indicate that Articuno is nearby." A robotic voice announced.

"Articuno..." Serena mumbled as she remembered her own encounter with the ice flying type.

"Please do excuse me, but feel free to watch the show." Lawrence III replied as he sat back down, the chair raised back up through the ceiling.

The group looked around with concerned expressions. A monitor lit up with the hologram of Articuno on it, so now they just have a timer until the last of the birds is caught. They only have so long until Lawrence III comes back, they don't have long to deal with this.

"We can't just stand here!" Ash shouted in frustration. "That psycho is destroying the planet and we have to stop him.".

"So, what exactly do you suggest we do?" Misty asked with sass. "Normally by this point you would've gone aura and ripped this ship apart, why do you do that now?".

"I already told you, my aura is being weird, and I don't know why." Ash replied. "Can we just focus on what we have to do.".

"One, we need to free the legendary birds. B, no two, we need to get off this ship. Three, we need to complete this legend to stop the storm and save the world." Drake listed cutting straight to the point, they can't waste time arguing and need to get down to business. "And coming in a very low four, or D, or that little iv in brackets, we should figure out why Ash hasn't had his aura activate yet.".

"So how do you expect to break those cages?" Misty asked.

"Everyone release your fire and water Pokemon." Drake instructed as he pulled out two Pokeballs, releasing his Charizard and Ponyta.

Misty released her Starmie, Tentacruel, Psyduck, Vaporeon and Poliwag, due to there being no water, she didn't release her Seaking same how Serena didn't release her Kingdra. Leaf released her Flareon, Clefable and Dewgong. Ash released his Blastoise.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower. Ponyta, use Fire Spin." Drake directed the attacks towards Zapdos' cage. The two fire types launched their attacks towards the cage, hitting the metal which began to heat up. The others followed his lead.

"Flareon, use Flamethrower. Clefable, use Fire Blast!" Leaf added. The brunette's two Pokemon also fired out powerful red-hot flames towards Zapdos' cage. Drake was watching the metal closely, until he saw the metal reach a melting point.

* * *

As the group were working on freeing the two legendary birds, a large creature deep under the sea's surface was swimming along a powerful current. It has noticed the strange weather patterns and is currently tracking the source of them. It has a horrible feeling that the day he meet's his father's chosen one has come into existence. He needs to get to the heart of the problem, before it is too late.

* * *

"On the count of three, you four redirect your attacks to Moltres' cage. And we also need to blast the metal with as many water attacks as possible." Drake instructed, as the army of water types lined up. "Three, two, one... Now!".

The fire types turned and fired their fire attacks towards the cage containing Moltres. Starmie launched a Hydro Pump, Tentacruel launched a Bubble Beam, Psyduck launched a Water Gun, Vaporeon launched a Hydro Pump, Poliwag launched a Bubble, Dewgong launched a Water Pulse, with Blastoise launching a Hydro Pump.

Drake continued to watch both cages, he is the one with the most scientific knowledge and knows the quickest way to break these cages. The two-legendary birds noticed what was happening and began to also launch more attacks.

"Marowak, on my command, use a Bone Rush on Zapdos' cage." Drake instructed. Marowak held his bone out in an offensive manner as it glew bright blue and also grew in size. "Now!".

Marowak jumped into the air before striking the metal which was in the heart of the water attacks. The water attacks ended as electrical sparks began to fly, the Bone Rush pushed against the sparking metal, eventually an explosion was caused as the water types began to cool down the second cage.

"Do the same on the second cage." Drake instructed.

Marowak used the force from the explosion to fly towards the second cage before striking that one with Bone Rush. A similar explosion occurred which caused all the Pokemon to stand back. Soon both the legendary birds stood tall out of the fiery explosions.

"Soo... What now?" Leaf asked innocently.

Moltres reacted first as it came to its senses, narrowing its eye at its fellow legend, it must have something to do with this. Charging up a powerful fire move within its mouth, it opened fired and launched a Fire Blast attack at Zapdos. Screeching out in pain from the powerful attack, Zapdos reacted by launching a Thunderbolt towards Moltres. The two birds continued to launch their attacks at one another as the group ducked for cover. Returning their Pokemon in the process for safe keeping.

"What's going on? Why are they attacking each other?" Serena asked with worry.

"Their enraged." Melody answered grimly.

"Still, why attack each other?" Misty asked. "Surely they know this is down to that Lawrence guy.".

"There not thinking straight." Drake added. Everyone turned towards him for some sort of explanation. "Have you ever heard the term, blinded by rage? Because that what they are right now. I doubt they know or care about who is to blame, they are just lashing out.".

Moltres fired another Fire Blast which completely missed Zapdos, burning a hole into the side of the airship. With more powerful screeches, the two birds took off out of the hole, while locked in their combat. With the two enraged legendaries gone, the group came out of hiding.

"So now what?" Misty asked.

"We need to get down from here." Leaf spoke up.

"And that's where I come in." Haunter let herself out of her Pokeball. "What? Did you think you'd get through a whole chapter without me?".

"Um, wouldn't it be better if we fly down. On our flying Pokemon?" Ash asked the ghost type.

"Please, those bird brains?" Haunter retorted. "The old dinosaur would only take you, the wannabe dragon can handle two and the brunette's aggressive bird would only carry another. That is a total of four when there is six of you.".

"And how exactly do you plan on getting all of us out of here?" Ash asked with a deadpan expression. "Do you even have a plan?"

"Of course, I have a plan." Haunter replied.

"No, you don't." Ash accused.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise you was a telepath." Haunter replied sarcastically. "Although this arc is based on a Pokemon movie, so I shouldn't be surprised. They even gave none psychic types telepathy in those.".

"... I'm not even gonna ask." Ash replied. "Just what is your plan?".

"This." Haunter smirked. She clicked her fingers as her eyes glew blue. Soon Ash, Serena, Misty, Drake, Leaf and Melody were also surrounded by a light blue light, being lifted into the air. She was using psychic.

Not waiting for another response, Haunter lifted the group into the air and they started to fly out of the hole left by the two fighting birds. As they flew out into the air, they noticed the ship was opened up to release more of the capture rings.

"Dear, oh dear. We can't have that, can we." Haunter replied as she clicked her fingers having a bomb appear in her hands. She placed it in the air in front of her as a golf club appeared in her hands. "FOUR!". Swinging the golf club, it hit the bomb into the cargo bay before blowing it up.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lawrence III was seated in his chair as he observed the legendary birds now battling each other. For the first time in a while, he had a look of worry on his face. It was true that if the three of them were battling like this that Lugia would surely show itself, but it would be at the cost of his collection. He couldn't let that happen. Lawrence III pressed a button on his chair to release the capture rings once again but had a look of confusion cross his face when nothing happened.

"What has happened to the port? Did the birds damage it in their fight?" Lawrence III thought to himself.

"Mayday! Mayday! Crashing landing in progress." The computer alarmed throughout the building.

"No, this can't be." Lawrence III grunted in anger, he is the chosen one, how could his day of victory turn so wrong?

* * *

With one problem taken care of, Haunter began to fly towards lightening island with the group still in her Psychic hold. Unfortunately, she decided to take a detour straight through the three-battling legendary bird Pokemon.

"Haunter! What are you doing!?" Ash asked in a panick as a powerful Ice Beam flew past his head.

"Getting a cool action scene, obviously." Haunter replied as she quickly moved the group out of the way of a Flamethrower. "Good job this isn't in Man of Steel though, otherwise it would be filled with shaky cam and Christian imagery.".

"What are you on about?" Ash asked with panick in his voice as he saw Zapdos crash into Articuno.

"Man of Steel, super hero film from twenty-thirteen. Not the best but got good reviews." Haunter replied casually. "It's about an overpowered alien... But wasn't that good, didn't even mention the fourth wall.".

"Can you please remain somewhat sane until we are back on the ground!?" Ash asked in a begging manner.

"What? That is like asking a baby not to cry." Haunter replied with puppy-dog eyes. "Anyway I want to talk to you about the plan for next chapter. You see, it is meant to be the big climax for this arc, but it is missing the blue energy beam to shoot into the sky. If recent blockbusters have taught me any anything, it is the need of a big blue energy beam into the sky.".

"What are you on about!" Ash shouted in panick as a Flamethrower and Thunderbolt struck head on, causing an explosion.

"Well this is a fan fiction and not a movie so maybe there is different climax rules... I'll get back to you after reading fifty shades of grey... Get it, there's a double joke about it being a book and _the climax_." Haunter replied before a sly smile grew on her face. "I might even lend my copy to Serena... I am sure you would like what would happen after that.".

"HAUNTER!" Ash shouted with a bright red face.

"Now that would really push this fic to the M rating." Haunter laughed.

"Just... Stop, Haunter." Ash groaned.

"Stop what... Stop the flight?" Haunter asked as she ended her Psychic attack.

The blue light surrounding the group disappeared. She gave a bright smile and jolly wave as the group began to fall through the air. Ash grabbed hold of Togepi, who was laughing his little head off, while Pikachu clutched to Ash for dear life. Was this how it was going to end? The group screamed as the island came closer.

"You're such a big bunch of scaredy Meowth." Haunter accused as she reactivated her Psychic attack, lowering the group down to the ground. "All better?".

"Um... what is wrong with your Haunter?" Melody asked as she tried to force air down her lungs after the near crash.

"I ask myself that question every day." Ash replied as she tried to comfort Serena as he too needed to get as much air in his lungs as possible.

Ash couldn't help but wonder what has gotten into Serena, since arriving she has been much more affectionate. Sure she became openly affectionate once they started dating but that did seem to calm down a bit, so what's changed? She surely can't think Ash has interest in Melody, can she?

"First off, I think you'll be needing this." Haunter dropped an orb into Ash's hand. It was like the orb collected from fire island but this one looked like a lightning bolt was in the centre, and it had a yellow tint to it. Ash put the orb in his backpack. "And secondly, can we have a chat... In private?".

The ghost poison type didn't wait for a response and clicked her fingers, teleporting both herself and Ash to a completely white room, which seemed to go on for ever, which just added a bunch of question for the raven-haired boy?

"Where, are we?" Ash asked uncertain.

"Oh, we are on the next page of the word document. We have a bit of time before the other's text catches up, so we should be fine for a few hundred words." Haunter explained, matter-of-factly.

"Ya know what, I am tired of arguing about this with you." Ash replied as his body shook. "What did you want to talk about?".

"Oh, it is the point in the story where a character explains to you what is going on with Serena." Haunter explained. "Since the only people around are a flirty girl, orange haired temper, hopelessly in-love brunette, your dense twin brother and Serena herself, the author gave me the job.".

"Help me..." Ash whispered in a pleading voice.

"Now, normally I would start by telling you about the Pidgeotto's and the Beedrill's but that would probably lead to some big misunderstandings... And possible criminal charges." Haunter laughed as Ash sweat dropped. "So I guess I would start by telling you that Serena is scared.".

"Scared?" Ash questioned. "Scared of what?".

"Scared of Melody, duh." Haunter replied, matter-of-factly. "Think about it, she spent how long trying to get your attention, and you only did once she finally confessed her feelings... Even though you weren't technically conscious.".

"Thanks to you..." Ash muttered under his breath. Haunter replied with a bright smile.

"Anyway, after that confession you returned her feelings and lived happily ever after." Haunter continued her explanation with a load of sarcasm. "So imagine what she would be thinking when another girl practically also confesses her feelings. She would be scared that if you just returned her feelings, then why wouldn't you do the same here?".

"But I would never hurt her like that." Ash replied.

"I know that, and she knows that, and you know that, but she doesn't know that." Haunter replied.

"What?" Ash questioned.

"In simple man's terms, she knows that in her heart, but it doesn't stop her head from playing tricks with the problem." Haunter explained.

"So... What am I meant to do?" Ash asked.

"Be a good boyfriend, and make Serena feel like a Disney princess." Haunter replied. "Or wait until this arc is over, and the mistress is out of the picture. I am sure the author can just write this plot point away with ease.".

"..." Ash was literally speechless.

"Anyway, back to the others." Haunter replied with a click of her fingers. The group was back with the rest of the group, but it was like none of them even noticed the duo disappeared. They were in exactly the same positions.

Looking around at the battle in the sky, the legendary bird trio were still battling in the sky, it seemed to be around lightening island now. Although a few things were cause for concern, first off, a big part of the water was frozen over and what seemed to be a cyclone was bursting out of the water under the battling birds.

"Hello there, are all of you alright?" A new voice appeared behind the group.

The group turned around in surprise to find a Slowking. It didn't appear hostile and was standing proud, but the group knew not to judge a book by its cover. The main surprise was, all of them heard the words which it spoke, not just Ash. The only other Pokemon they have known which can speak English was a certain Meowth back in Kanto. The trio didn't waste much time in scanning the new arrival with there Pokedexes, Leaf also took the chance to scan both Articuno and Moltres:

 _Slowking, The Royal Pokemon. A final evolved form of Slowpoke. Slowking undertakes research every day in an effort to solve the mysteries of the world. However, this Pokémon apparently forgets everything it has learned if the Shellder on its head comes off._

"Now that you have your little info, can we move on to business?" Slowking requested. "I trust you have brought the treasures.".

"The treasures?" Ash questioned.

"Yes, orbs from the three islands. Connected to the legendary birds currently fighting." Slowking explained as Ash took the two orbs out of his backpack. "Those are the ones. Quick, take them over there and place them.".

The group looked in the direction that Slowking was pointing, it was back the way that he approached from, which looked like some sort of altar. Ash looked at the orbs in his hands, he doesn't remember that in the festival plan, he was only meant to take them back to Shamouti. Looking at his electric partner, who nodded in agreement with Slowking's statement, also pointing towards the altar.

"Gotcha." Ash replied to the Water Psychic type.

Ash made his way up the stairs to the altar. The rest of the group attempted to follow him but Slowking signalled them to wait, although he followed Ash and Pikachu up on his own. Pikachu ran ahead and stopped in front of a stone statue in the centre of the altar, which had three openings. Ash looked through the openings to see the islands. Ash used his common sense and placed the orbs with their corresponding island.

"So, you must be Ash." Slowking spoke as he appeared next to the trainer's side.

"Um, yes. I am." Ash replied after being slightly startled by his sudden appearance.

"It seems your one treasure short." Slowking observed.

"Yeah but, how did you know my name?" Ash asked.

"Oh, because it was mentioned in the legend." Slowking replied matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean? I never heard my name in the legend." Ash replied.

"Oh, but it is in there." Slowking replied. "Think about it.". Before Ash could recite the legend to look for his name, he heard Leaf and Serena cry out. Looking towards the scene they saw the legendary birds still locked in combat, making their way over to them. It was almost like they were tracking them.

"Cut it out!" Ash shouted as he ran to the edge of the altar. If those three attacked this island and destroyed the altar, then all hope would be lost. He may not know how, but Ash thinks these orbs have something to do with stopping them.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like they were going to listen, or even hear him. Although a mysterious cry sounded wide and far. Even the three birds seemed to look around at the sound. Suddenly a large Pokemon burst out of the water, it's a large Pokémon that resembles a dragon, a plesiosaur, and a bird. It is primarily pale silver-white, but it has blue undersides with slightly varying tones. It has a ridged mouth similar to a beak, although it has pointed teeth on its lower jaw. Its head has a point to the back, and its eyes have pointed blue or black spikes on them. It has a long, slender neck and a smooth, streamlined body. Dark blue or black plate-like protrusions run down the length of its back, and there are two smaller, more pointed ones on the end of its tail. It is Lugia.

If the appearance of a fourth legend wasn't surprise enough, Ash was in for a massive shock. Despite not encountering it on his journeys so far, the shape of this Pokemon was familiar and it scared him. This was that shadow creature with red eyes from his dream back after the Indigo League. Things just keep getting stranger, how is this all connected?

" _He will drag this world down to hell_!" The words echoed in Ash's voice. " _Who is_ he?".

* * *

Lawrence III rubbed his head as he came around. It seems like he was knocked unconscious after the big fight with the bird which caused his ship to crash near lightening island. The collector picked himself up from the ground as recent events ran through his head. The three legendary birds he planned to capture had escaped his grasp. Then they went on a rampage to destroy his ship.

Looking around at the damage, Lawrence III realised it was likely, almost certain that his precious artefacts are harmed or broken. Taking off down the corridor, he made his way towards his collection room. The room which once housed two of the three legendary birds.

Walking into the room he soon that almost nothing remained. The room looked like a tornado rushed through the room. The two cages were nothing more than a pile of dust and rubble but that wasn't Lawrence III's main concern. All of the other beautiful artefact's that he spent most of his life collecting were either burned, broken, damaged or just completely gone, like somewhere under the sea. Likely a result of the brief battle between Zapdos and Moltres before they escaped to the sky's.

The collector took out a small card of the mythical Pokemon Mew. It was the one thing he had left of his beautiful collection. It was the item which started his collection way back, which he received from his mother. As much as he wanted to blame the group of kids who was aboard this ship, he can't deny he has to share at least half the blame. Maybe he made a horrible mistake when he set out on this latest quest of his.

" _Did I make a horrible mistake_?" Lawrence III asked in his head.

That was when a beautiful sound echoed throughout the remains of his ship. It was a sound which soothed the soul. Walking over to the giant whole in the room, which the two birds escaped through. Although his planned failed, Lugia still showed up. The legends of its beauty were true, it is arguably the most marvellous creature he has seen.

He can't let one set back, such as losing the bird trio stop him in his quest as the chosen one. He is destined to tame the beast of the sea. It was Lugia he was after all along; the bird trio was just a bonus which came in the quest. Who cares if the rest of his collection has been destroyed, even if this minor setback never occurred, the grand prize always was Lugia. As long as he can have it, nothing else matters. Hopefully some of his capture rings are still operational. Forgetting any sort of remorse, he might have felt, Lawrence III walked back to his control panel. He will fulfil his quest as the chosen one, Lugia will be his.

" _The beast of the sea shall soon belong to me_." Lawrence III thought to himself as a smirk grew on his face.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	19. The Power of One P III

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the final part of The Power of One arc. This part will have a focus on both Aerodactyl and Haunter... Then again, I do tend to show favouritism to that lovable ghost type. We also have a lot of foreshadowing, with quite a lot to look forward. Remember to vote in the latest poll, it will be changed with the next chapter. Also, remember that I have updated the chapter list on my profile to include the Johto arc. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 19: The Power of One P III_

The group continued to stare in shock at the scene in front of them. The bird trio weren't shocked for long to find the guardian of the sea appeared. Soon the three of them returned to their battle, which Lugia looked at, with its back to the group. Ash, Serena, Drake and Leaf each scanned the new legendary with their Pokedexes:

 _Lugia, The Diving Pokemon. This is a Legendary Pokemon. Lugia's wings pack devastating power — a light fluttering of its wings can blow apart regular houses. As a result, this Pokémon chooses to live out of sight deep under the sea._

The Flying Psychic type was staring at the bird trio, letting out a powerful cry which once again drew the three legendaries attention. The bird trio stared defiantly at the Diving Pokemon, they aren't too happy about Lugia showing up. Lugia raised higher into the air, until it was looking down at the trio, it began to let out multiple cries towards the trio. Too far away for Ash to make out. From the gestures Lugia was making with its wings, it was clearly telling the trio to stop the fighting. As it continued to scold the trio, Melody had a look of realisation cross her face, taking her ocarina out to look at. The sounds coming from Lugia match the sounds of her instrument. So that's how the instrument is connected to the legend.

Despite Lugia's orders, the legendary bird trio didn't seem willing to listen. They each let out a powerful battle cry before firing a Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Ice Beam respectively. Lugia was quick to dodge the attacks before glaring at them. It was the one in charge, the one who granted these creatures, their legendary status to assist him and this is their choice. Well, Lugia would be sure to show them who was in charge, besides it isn't like he has a choice, as the legend goes he will need to quell the fighting.

The bird trio were split up slightly by a powerful Aeroblast, curtsy of Lugia. Startled for a second, the trio were not happy with the lasted attack from the legendary Diving Pokemon, the three bird Pokemon charged after Lugia. Not being an idiot, Lugia started to lead the trio away from the island while firing more Aeroblasts to keep their attention.

While he is faster and stronger then each of the bird trio individually, the fact that it was three against one gave the trio an advantage. Although Lugia could dodge most of the incoming attacks. A stray Ice Beam struck his back as he focused on avoiding a Flamethrower and Thunderbolt combo. With the first attack struck, the trio were able to move in and take over the battle.

"Do you think Lugia can win?" Serena asked with worry.

"While I hate to say it, I don't think so." Melody replied as she looked at the battle sadly, when a part of the legend came to mind. "While the sea's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song shall fail.".

"This looks bad." Slowking spoke up.

"Thank you captain obvious." Haunter popped up next to Slowking, Ash and Pikachu.

Ash gasped as they saw Lugia get cornered by a cliff side of the island the group is on. They then shot out an Ice Beam, a Thunderbolt and a Flamethrower respectively. Knowing that dodging would mean the attacks would hit the humans behind in peril and fighting back with an Aeroblast would cause an explosion which would also put the humans in peril, Lugia just took the three hits himself. With the three powerful attacks being very close-range blasts, made him the flying psychic type to cry out in pain. Lugia collapsed and fell in the ocean as the attacks came to an end.

The group hoped that after the battle with Lugia, the trio would be too tired to continue their own fight. With their common enemy taken care off, the legendary bird trio went back to fighting each other. It seems like nothing could stop these three from fighting.

"The legend said its song shall fail." Ash gasped. "That can't be, why would a prophecy foretell the end of the world?".

"Maybe we're missing part of the legend." Haunter hinted obviously.

"Thus, the world will turn to ash..." Slowking pointed out.

"That's it!" Haunter shouted as she gave Ash a noogie. "The world will turn to Ash. Your Ash, so you're the chosen one. It makes total sense.".

"I'm the chosen one..." Ash muttered to himself before turning to the ghost type. "Are you insane!?".

"Please... To be insane I would need a degree of sanity to being with." Haunter retorted. "Besides, if you're not the chosen one, then why are all those Pokemon looking at you? They are a part of the world, and it seems like they have turned to Ash.".

Looking in the direction Haunter was pointing, showed hundreds. No thousands of Pokemon spread across the water. Most of it was frozen so a lot of land bound Pokemon were able to be there, along with the multiple flying types in the air and water based Pokemon in the ocean. It was truly a sight to behold.

"Wha- why are all these Pokemon here?" Ash asked in shock.

"All Pokemon are in tune with nature, at least a lot more then you humans are." Haunter explained. "They showed up to see if they could help the chosen one save the planet... Silly Pokemon, don't they know only the main character can save the world in a story like this.".

"Is that right, Pikachu?" Ash asked his starter.

"More or less." Pikachu agreed.

"They must've also come to see the chosen one." Slowking added as he turned towards Ash. "So, chosen one. Have you decided how to proceed?".

"But- but I can't be the chosen one." Ash replied.

"I've had enough of this." Haunter replied as she started searching through Ash's Pokeballs. "I just want to get to my staring performance, but I can't until you decide to play hero that won't happen so if you won't listen to us maybe you'll listen too...".

Haunter found a Pokeball and released it, which had Aerodactyl appear in the group. The rock flying type appeared with a mighty roar before looking around at the surroundings. While not completely sure about what is happening, he is far from stupid and can take a good guess at what is happening. He turned towards the raven-haired boy with a sort of friendly smile. Although it is hard for a dinosaur to look friendly, all things considered.

"I see the time has finally arrived, chosen one." Aerodactyl spoke as he seemed to do a sort of kneel towards Ash.

"First, I told you not to call me that." Ash told the rock flying type. "Second, I can't save the world.".

"I know it seems difficult right now." Aerodactyl replied. "But if a goat-lama god can destroy the world with a few space rocks then saving it can't be much harder.".

"Your still not over that?" Haunter asked with a hint of disbelief. Seeing the threatening glare from Aerodactyl, Haunter turned her back towards him. "200 million years or whatever it was, that's all I'm saying...".

Haunter looked around and found the others looking at her with disgust. Everyone knows Aerodactyl doesn't like to bring up his life before being revived on Cinnebar, he hardly ever talks about it but has made it clear that losing what was practically another life has been hard on him. It is one reason he hasn't really became friends with the other Pokemon, only helping train them and Ash for the destiny which is a head. Maybe one day he will open up but not yet, he isn't ready.

"Pfft, fine..." Haunter grunted in annoyance. "I'm taking 5, get all the emotional, sappy and inspirational stuff out of the way before my scene is up.".

"... I'll go and make sure she doesn't assassinate anyone or something." Pikachu told Ash before running after the psychotic ghost poison type.

"Good." Aerodactyl grunted before turning back to Ash. The raven-haired boy knew not bring that up, at least not while Aerodactyl is in this mood. "Now about you having second thoughts. I told you when I was first revived about your role, you knew this was coming.".

"I knew you called me chosen one, but I didn't know anything about this." Ash replied. "And saving the world, it is kind of a big thing ya know.".

Aerodactyl grunted as he rattled his brain, he needs to inspire the boy to risk his life and give him confidence at the same time. From everything he knows about Ash, he respects those with power like strong trainers which Aerodactyl is unable to use... Although the boy is one for a story. Maybe a little sharing is in order.

"... So is losing your family." Aerodactyl grunted reluctantly. Ash perked up, he knows thinking about his past life is painful for Aerodactyl, he is like a veteran solider passing on his training and knowledge while keeping the pain bottled up. "You once asked, what my past life was like? It was hell. My parents died when I was young, so I had to fend for myself. Eventually I met someone, and we had eggs... Laying them killed her off as well. My oldest child was attacked and killed which forced me to take the youngest one away for her safety... I was picking some food up when that self-confessed god sent me here...".

"... Aerodactyl." Ash spoke softly with watery eyes.

"I could've gone mad and tried to damage the world when I was revived but I didn't, I was sent to help and prepare you for this event. That is what I've done... Will you now making it that my sacrifice will now be for nothing?" Aerodactyl asked.

Ash, having heard what Aerodactyl said, he quickly dried his eyes. "Sorry Aerodactyl, of course I don't want to do that to you. I'm still not sure if I'm ready for this but I will give it ago... Will you help me?".

Aerodactyl nodded his head silently and turned to face Ice Island, kneeling down to allow Ash to climb onto his back. Understanding the silent message from the rock flying type, Ash climbed onto the dinosaurs back. "If you tell anyone what I said, you will regret it.".

"Hehehe, of course I will keep it secret." Ash laughed nervously. He really hoped that Aerodactyl was joking about the threat but if there is one thing Aerodactyl has never done in the whole time Ash has known him is joke around.

Suddenly, a beautiful melody filled the air. The source turned out to be Melody who began to perform the song from the night before. After a few moments a sort of water tornado shot out of the water just in front of the island, when the water disappeared Lugia was looking strong.

" _The song has restored my strength, thank you for that maiden_." Lugia spoke telepathically. " _Although that song cannot also bring harmony to those three_.".

"What needs to be done then?" Leaf asked with worry full in her voice.

" _The final of the treasures needs to be brought back to the shrine, once in place can be combined with the Melody to tame the beast which lays under these waters and currently threaten the world_." Lugia explained. " _This will only be possible through the hands of the chosen one_.".

"But why can only Ash do it?" Serena asked with slight anger in her voice. "Why does he need to go into the danger?".

" _The chosen one holds the key in his blood which was shared by the one who locked this event away many hundreds of years ago_." Lugia explained.

"My aura?" Ash guessed. "But my aura isn't even working properly.".

"Oh yes, about that. Probably should've explained earlier but our father decided to lock away your aura abilities for the most part." Slowking explained. "He wanted to make sure you are a capable chosen hero for the future beyond this event, so he locked it away until this event is over.".

"But I can still understand my Pokemon?" Ash questioned.

"Oh yes, first he didn't want you to start freaking out because you couldn't understand them." Slowking answered. "And second, he needed at least the basics to be activated to ensure it would activate the treasures for the legend.".

"Goody, we got the big guy back and done all the emotional stuff. Now is the time to get the show on the road." Haunter spoke as she and Pikachu returned. She had a sombrero, a poncho and two maracas in her hands. Pikachu also had a sombrero on. She clicked her fingers and all the items disappeared as Pikachu climbed up to join Ash on Aerodactyl's back, looking very annoyed.

"Don't ask." Pikachu grunted in annoyance.

" _Well if everyone is ready, I shall lead those three away to give you a clear path, chosen one_." Lugia explained before shooting off towards the battling birds.

"Hold your horses... I mean Rapidash." Haunter joked. "Last time it was those three against Lugia, the big guy crossed the god father since he went sleeping with the fishes... Magikarp. Maybe you should send him some help.". A giant neon sign appeared with an arrow pointing towards Haunter.

Ash looked between his ghost type and the battle between the four legends. It would be very dangerous for Haunter to even attempt to enter that fight, but she has proven to be very dangerous in battle and wants to. Ash knows if Lugia fell before he completed his quest then he would likely try to help it anyway so maybe this is the best way and Haunter is clearly up for it.

"Fine Haunter, go ahead." Ash sighed with his mind made up.

The smile on Haunter's face grew to an unimaginable size. She cracked her knuckles as Ash instantly regretted making that decision. "Alright, maximum effort.". The poison ghost type flew off towards the battle.

"Those poor birds... They know not, what they have done." Pikachu spoke up sadly. "They shall be missed.".

"Well Aerodactyl, we better get this over and done with." Ash told the dinosaur.

Aerodactyl agreed and with a mighty roar, took off into the sky with the trainer and electric mouse Pokemon on his back. Lugia had lead the group of Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, with Haunter slowly approaching behind them. Ash slightly shivered from the cold, but a look of determination soon crossed his face, he is the chosen one, the one destined to save the world. He, along with his trusted friends, can and will do it.

Putting his head down, Ash wanted to make them as aerodynamic as possible. Aerodactyl took the hint and sped up as they wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they missed seeing more of the capture devices leave the crashed airship belonging to Lawrence III.

* * *

"Evening ladies and gentle birds, Haunter here." The ghost poison type announced as a Flamethrower shot across, barely missing her head. "Well, that was rude.".

Suddenly a ring shot past her towards Lugia. A giant smirk formed on her face as a second ring shot past her, she quickly grabbed hold of it and was soon being dragged along. Her face was left in the place her body once was before running after the body to catch it up, cartoon style.

"Ya know, since my hands aren't attached to my body, it makes no sense that it is also being pulled along." Haunter pointed out. "This is the point where I am supposed to start juggling with the circus song like I practised in the fourth gym battle chapter. But since you have already seen that, let's try this song.".

Bringing herself to a stop she used the ring like a hula-hop. Spinning it around her body like a child on the playground, she began to laugh hysterically.

"You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record baby, right right, round round." Haunter sang as the ring she was playing with struck other rings, knocking them out the air, all which disobeying the laws of physics since her hoop didn't slow down.

She saw a combination of a Thunderbolt and Flamethrower flying towards Lugia. Speeding the hoop spinning up, the ring flew off her body before intercepting the two attacks as Lugia sent an Aeroblast at Articuno.

"Your welcome." Haunter told the legendary flying psychic type.

" _So, you are the assistance the chosen one has sent_." Lugia examined the ghost poison type " _I appreciate the help_.".

"The chosen one, the author." Haunter shrugged her shoulders. "You say tomato I say tomarto.".

" _Either way, I believe we need to focus on our adversaries for the time being_." Lugia ignored Haunter's outburst. " _It is a key role in combat_.".

"Wait, sorry. Do you mention the rules!?" Haunter cried out as she clicked a Rocket Launcher into her hands taking aim at Moltres. "Now, listen. Tell me the truth if you think you know it. Lay down the law, if you're feeling brave. But Lugia! Never! Ever! Tell me the rules!".

She began to fire the Rocket Launcher at the three legendary birds but instead of firing out rockets like the weapon would suggest, it fired out some sort of sticky pink blobs. Each of the birds were struck head on and made to crash land on the ice, as they struggled to escape.

" _Well... That was easier than I expected_." Lugia spoke up as he watched the three birds struggle. He could sort them out once they had time to calm themselves down.

"That's what I said after a night of... Not passion, what's the word?... Hmm, Pity, with your mum." Haunter joked.

" _Whatever that is meant to mean, since I don't have a mother, never have_." Lugia replied with slight confusion. As he is a legendary, he was created by their father to perform his task. He then turned back towards the crashed air ship as more rings came flying out of the ship. " _I believe we have another issue to deal with_.".

Haunter began to laugh psychotically as she eyed up the next target. The stupid author made her just cause the birds to crash instead of a little bit of death, you just can't murder characters off like you use to.

* * *

Aerodactyl flew over Ice Island. Time is quickly running out and they don't have time to land. Once directly over the summit of the mountain on Ice Island, Aerodactyl entered a sky drop, quickly falling towards the shrine which holds the final Treasure.

Ash and Pikachu each cried out loud as the ground quickly gained on them. Although Aerodactyl is a strong and skilled flyer. Quickly turning his wings at the last second, he was briefly stood over the shrine for less than a split-second. That was all he needed though, and tightly gripped his foot claw around the treasure, stopping it from escaping.

At the same time, he used a powerful Wing Attack against the floor which kept them airborne. It also transferred all the momentum from the fall, allowing them to shoot straight out of the island. Due to not being so elegant, Aerodactyl decided to go with the direct approach, since the way out was a twisty corridor with big ice shards. He powered up a Giga Impact, which protected not just himself but his passengers.

Not even attempting to dodge the sharp ice pillars, Aerodactyl charged straight down the path. Ash had to tighten his grip to stop himself from falling off. The ice was shattered against Aerodactyl's pure power, before the group shot out of the entrance.

Since they no-longer had the ice to worry about, Aerodactyl shot forward as the Giga Impact powered down. What seemed to surprise Ash was the fact that Aerodactyl broke the sound barrier as they shot across the frozen water. This was the fastest he has ever moved, it makes sense since in battle they don't go very far so he wasn't able to build up his speed and when flying across Kanto on the two occasions, a sonic boom would cause a lot of damage, so he stopped himself from doing it then. He is only letting himself doing now because the world is on the line, so he is willing to make an exception.

Looking around as the target island approached them, Ash couldn't see anything in the sky. Not the legendary bird trio, not Lugia and not even Haunter. That is weird, the female ghost is known for making a scene. Even if one side fell in the battle, the other side should still be there. However, that doesn't matter right now, even though the fighting seems to be over the current under the water, the beast of the sea, is still threatening the world.

Aerodactyl shot over the shrine island, flying over the top of everyone else. Once at the place they took off from, Aerodactyl opened his wings which acted as a sort of parachute, bringing them to a complete stop shortly in front of Slowking. The sudden loss of momentum made Ash and Pikachu feel sick. They aren't used to such aerial manuvers. Shakily they slipped off Aerodactyl's back, looking about ready to throw up.

The group made their way up the stairs towards the shrine towards where Aerodactyl just landed. Slowking also walked towards the chosen one. After about half a minute, all the group were together, and Ash seemed to recover from his travel sickness. Although the group was right behind, Ash knew now was no-time for them to chat. Slowking wasted no-time in getting to the point.

"Have you brought the final treasure, chosen one?" Slowking asked.

"Um, yeah... I think so." Ash replied, still not 100%.

Aerodactyl picked the orb up from his foot to his hand and handed it to Ash. Being the first time, he held it properly, and got a good look, Ash noticed this sphere was a light blue colour, almost white like snow. In the centre, instead of a thunderbolt like the treasure from lightening island or the flame in the centre of the treasure from fire island, this treasure had a sort of snow flake.

"Quick, you must be the one to place it." Slowking urged.

Ash nodded in understanding, walking over to the shrine. Even Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, standing next to Aerodactyl's side with the rest of the group. Ash walked with such purpose, he knew why he was walking on this shrine and for what cause. He is Ash Ketchum, the chosen one, chosen to save the world.

As he reached the alter, Ash saw the final place remaining for one more treasure. With a deep breath, Ash gently placed the final sphere in its place. All three orbs were now set. Everyone was watching as they wondered what would happen next. Suddenly the three spheres flashes red, yellow and blue respectively. Everyone knew that something was about to happen.

"So... What now?" Ash asked, lamely.

The spheres began to shine brighter than ever, emitting coloured beams of their respective elements: red for fire, yellow for lightening and Blue for ice. Soon all the beams converted into one, turning into an emerald green colour which took up the whole opening on the shrine. A few seconds later the green beam shot out of the alter. The bright light caused everyone the need to cover their eyes. Once their eyes adjusted to the light, they noticed all the snow on the shrine had disappeared.

The green light flooded outwards across the shrine until they hit the stone pillars. In turn, the pillars also started to glow green. After a few moments the glowing stopped, and the stone pillars had transformed from their ageing state to a new fresh imposing stature. Everyone stared in wonder before it clicked, there is still another part of the legend. They all turned and looked at Melody expectantly. The girl realised it too and ran out to an open part of the shrine, taking her ocarina out.

She began to play the beautiful song and preform the dance. It was just like last night performance. The sounds coming out of the ocarina were beautiful, like all the previous times they heard the song, filled everyone with a sense of peace and comfort. Although the most interesting part was how the pillars seemed to glow green in tune with Melody's song. A different pillar glew with each new note.

However, the group weren't the only ones to think this song was beautiful or relaxing. On the ice close to the island, the legendary bird trio who were attempting to break free from the trap Haunter left them in, was also hit by the song. The trio were brought to silence as the melody soothed their entire bodies, even healing some of their battle scares. The pink gunk seemed to evaporate as well but the three legends showed no interest in resuming the fight. They are meant to work together to keep balance, not fight and destroy the world in the process.

Slowly but surely, the dark ominous clouds disappeared as the sun re-took its rightful place. The group took in new atmosphere as they felt the warm sunshine on their skin, it truly does feel great. A field of flowers also blossomed around the shrine, as the green glow expanded even further, going further then the shrine and into the ocean itself. The group couldn't help but be amazed, even the ice freezing the ocean started to melt.

Soon several cries filled the skies. Looking towards the source, the source was fairly obvious, the legendary bird trio: Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres but unlike the previous times, they are no-longer fighting, these cries were filled with beauty and peacefulness, like they are meant to sound. Although only Ash could understand what they were saying, and it was soon clear to him that they were calling out for someone.

A water sprout shot out of the water between the three birds. The group smiled as that can only mean one thing. Sure enough, the water fell back into the ocean to reveal Lugia with a loud cry. That was enough to fully push the black clouds away and brought the once rough waters to a more natural and steady state.

With a graceful flap of its wings, Lugia glided forward and landed at the front of the shrine where the group approached it, hesitantly. The flying psychic type looked at the whole group until its gaze landed on Ash. Everyone seemed to notice this. Lugia then gestured towards his back.

"Me?" Ash questioned as he pointed at himself.

Lugia didn't response verbally and just nodded his head. Ash was grinning like an idiot as he approached the legendary Pokemon, as Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder. Once next to Lugia, Ash climbed onto the legendaries back with slight reluctance. As soon as the trainer and Pokemon were secure on its back, Lugia flapped his wing, taking off across the water. The legendary bird trio began to circle around them as they flew away at a leisurely pace.

"Wow." Ash gasped in amazement at the sight.

Ash looked around in amazement at not only the surroundings but also the Pokemon he was on. It is quite overwhelming to be riding on the back of a legendary Pokemon like Lugia, not to mention the three other legendaries dancing around them.

Lugia smiled at the young chosen one's amazement before letting out another cry. Several water spouts shot out of the ocean, creating quite the beautiful display for his two passengers. Soon the waterspouts arched over them, connecting back into the water. It almost looked like a rainbow made out of the world's most sparkling water. It was very beautiful.

The legendary flying psychic type gave the equivalent of a smile at the chosen one's expression. While he has seen much of the world, it is like he can see it all again for the first time right now through the young boy's eyes. Looking around at all the Pokemon who had travelled across the planet to this location, showed them all returning to their homeland. Like before, those that travelled through the water or skies are helping the normally land-bound Pokemon back home. The Pokemon also aren't native to just one region, with species native to all known regions from Kanto to Alola. Seeing them all made Ash ask a question.

"Why did all of these Pokemon come here?" Ash asked.

" _With the imbalance threatening the world, these Pokemon knew they had to show up_." Lugia explained. " _If it could make the tiniest bit of difference, they would travel to any part of this planet to offer their assistance. Any time, any date_.".

"Of course, we would." Pikachu replied with a smirk. "Us Pokemon are just awesome like that.".

Ash smiled as his number one buddy and gave him a hug before continuing to look around. Once Lugia was sure they were far enough away, he decided to start the conversation which was the reason he brought the chosen one out here.

" _Chosen one, I feel like the world couldn't have been in safer hands_." Lugia told the young man, drawing back his attention. " _You restored balance to this planet by taming the beast of the sea and saving the world."._

"So, the beast spoken of in the legend is the underwater current?" Ash questioned.

" _That is correct_." Lugia replied. " _You not only have my thanks, but that of every Pokemon on this planet_.".

With the happy part of the speech over, Lugia sighed as his expression darkened. This is the bit it has been regretting, this will be hard for the chosen one to hear but it must be said. To ensure not only Lugia's safety but the entire planets is secure. Ash seemed to notice this.

"Lugia?" Ash questioned.

" _Although you have brought the sun out for today, there will be another time when darkness attacks this planet_." Lugia explained. " _While it may be hard for you to accept, you will have a role to play in the upcoming war. Along with your mate and other half._ ".

"Mate and other half?" Ash questioned. "Do you mean Serena?".

"Yes, that is your chosen mate. Is she not?" Lugia replied with a light smirk at Ash's bright red face. " _But as for your other half, I mean the man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name. The second side to the same coin as yourself_.".

" _You two are more alike than either of you would like to admit, two sides to the same coin_." Red's words echoed throughout Ash's head.

"Do you mean Drake?" Ash asked.

" _Yes, that is his name now, but he will have other names before the end._ " Lugia replied. " _The oncoming storm. The protector of regions... The Great killer of this world. And perhaps one more dangerous and deadly then all the others_.".

"Which is?" Ash asked reluctantly. What could possibly happen to turn Drake into this, the man Lugia is describing. Hell, is Drake a good or bad person in this life Lugia is describing? Sure, he may be 'the protector of regions' which implies he is good but 'the great killer of this world' is implying the total opposite.

" _... Wes_." Lugia replied.

"I can't let Drake become this person you are describing." Ash replied with slight anger. "How can I stop him becoming this person?".

" _You_ must _let him become this creature_." Lugia ordered. " _If you don't, then billions will die. The world will be covered darkness. You sure this in that message from my father a few months ago. He will be the only one capable of doing what you can't, with the power to match."._

"So, Drake will be the one to stop this thing which will drag the world down to hell?" Ash questioned.

" _No, he_ is _the one who will drag this world down to hell_." Lugia replied. " _He is destined to bring an end to the war, protect a region blinded by lies. He is even set to save myself in the distance future_.".

"But how does Drake become like the person your describing?" Ash asked.

" _When you two set off on two different journeys', the wheels set in motion shall lead to his creation, on a burning battlefield_." Lugia explained. " _We shall speak again, when the point of no return is approaching. But for now, you must keep this too yourself, chosen one."._

"You mean I can't even tell Drake? Not warn him!?" Ash exclaimed.

" _Of course not_." Lugia replied. " _One cannot know too much about one's future to ensure the timeline is kept in line. You can't share what I have told you with anyone, my father requested only you learn of this future to ensure you allow it to go ahead."._

"Well, you mentioned something about me and Serena having a role in this future?" Ash questioned once he calmed down.

" _I also said one cannot know about one's future_." Lugia replied. " _For you, that includes your mates destined path as well_.".

"Why not?" Ash asked.

" _Because it is only natural that one would change their past to ensure their ideal future_." Lugia replied. " _And as for your actions in the future, that possibility reaches out to your mate as well_.".

"Um okay..." Ash replied a little uncertain before he noticed something. "By the way did you see Haunter? She was meant to come over and help you.".

" _Ah yes, that amusing purple ghost proved herself quite useful._ " Lugia replied. " _We were on our way to deal with the man who caused this when you was on your way back with the final treasure. Seeing as she had proved herself, I saw it acceptable to leave his fate in her hands."._

Ash was more than a little concerned now. He knows the psychotic ghost better than anyone and the fact she is yet to show up cannot be a good sign. As if on cue, the airship which belongs to Lawrence III blew up in a fiery explosion. It was like a nuclear bomb had just been dropped in its heart. Haunter appeared floating next to Ash eating some popcorn while wearing 3D glass, like you would get from the cinema.

"Woo, pretty." Haunter gazed at the violent scene. "And so realistic. It's like I can reach out and touch it.".

"Haunter... What did you do?" Ash asked with regret, not sure he wants to know.

"Oh, I got that arrogant bad director, Michael Bay, to come up with the idea." Haunter replied. "It has all his trademarks. A CGI robotic ship thingy, a series of explosions which leads to a massive explosion and no story, which is why the author skipped that scene out.".

"You mean you blew Lawrence up!?" Ash exclaimed. "He needs to be punished but even he doesn't deserve to die. He should be locked away and given the chance to regret his actions!".

"I knew you would think something like that, so I ended up pulling him out before and dropped him off with a friend." Haunter replied as a flash back started.

* * *

 _On top off a mountain somewhere in a faraway region, a man is inside of a cave in isolation. He is on a top-secret mission, one which could prove vital to the protection of this world. He left his wife and two sons to ensure they aren't dragged into this. Hell, hardly anyone knows what he is doing or where he is. Even the international police don't have an idea about this._

 _The man walked out of his cave when he heard a large thud just outside. No-one could've found his hideout. It is thousands of miles away from any sort of civilisation and the entire mountain is being shielded by his aura. There is no possible way another being is outside of this place, so what could've made that noise?_

 _Stepping outside he found a man tied up with a red ribbon commonly found on presents. The man's mouth is also gagged, with what appears to be an ancient Mew card at the centre bow. Seeing as this is a very strange occurrence, the man approached the 'present' to find the card has been written on._

 _'A little gift from your friendly neighbourhood psychopath... P.S. I mean Haunter, ya know. Ash's best Pokemon regardless of what that poll said'._

* * *

"Anyway, enough about that." Haunter spoke again as the flashback came to an end. "Look the island is coming back up.".

Lugia swooped down making a safe and peaceful landing on the island once again. Ash slide off Lugia's wing with Pikachu on his shoulder, his mind was still racing with the information he just received but he hid it with a happy expression. He couldn't let them know, could he.

The first one in the group to approach him was Serena, who engulfed him in a massive hug. Pushing the new information to the back of his head, Ash happily returned the loving gesture. He knows they are gonna need a serious talk about this whole thing but for now he is happy just returning the hug. Lugia spoke up once again which brought the hug to an end, as the couple broke apart to turn towards the legend.

" _Once again, chosen one. You have my thanks. The world couldn't have been in safer hands_." Lugia praised, making no mention to the information he previously gave to the raven-haired boy. " _I look forward to our future encounters. Until then, farewell for me_.".

With a mighty flap of the wings, Lugia took off into the sky. It went high into the air, in a sort of arc motion before flapping its wings once more to pick up speed, diving into the water as the waterspouts fell back into the water. The combination caused a rather large splash. A few moments later, the ocean waters returned to their normal tranquil state and any sign of a legendary which was previous there were now gone. The group stared at the peaceful sight before Drake spoke up.

"Well Ash, I might need to take lessons on saving the world from you next." Drake joked. "That's twice now. It might be fun to play a bigger role next time.".

Despite it being Drake's attempt at a joke, Ash didn't find it very funny after what he was just told by Lugia. Of course, no-one has any idea what he was told, and he can't let them from what Lugia said but he does feel like he would need to talk to someone about this... He knows just the person who he can talk to, but he can do that later.

Ash noticed everyone was looking at him since he hasn't really responded to his brother. Lucky, he spotted something in the air approaching them, it was a helicopter and it was heading straight towards them.

"Hey look, a helicopter!" Ash pointed out, drawing the attention away from himself.

Everyone looked at the distraction without much thought, except Drake who was suspicious after his brother's reaction. He doesn't know why, but he has a feeling that his brother was told something by Lugia and it possibly concerns him. Still, he trusts his brother so if he isn't mentioning it, then he must have a good reason.

The group watched in puzzlement as the aircraft came closer and closer, until it landed on the same island as the group not far from the shrine. Everyone was asking themselves what was happening? The side door slide open a couple of moments after touching down, and they all got their answer. As soon as the first person stepped off the vehicle, Ash bolted towards them with the others soon following him.

Delia was the first off, the helicopter, shortly followed by Grace and Rose. Ash tackled his mum with a hug, it has been months since he has seen her. Of course, they have spoken on the phone, but it isn't the same as face to face. Drake stood behind them with a smile on his face. While he is just as happy to see his mother, he isn't the hugging type. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get much choice as Delia soon dragged him into a giant hug as well. Serena and Leaf's reunions with their own mothers were quite similar. Finally, Professor Oak stepped off the aircraft, but he remained back to let the mothers and children have their reunion.

"Not to sound rude but how did you know where we were? And what are you doing here, anyway?" Ash asked as the reunions came to an end.

"I came to the Orange Islands to investigate the strange weather patterns." Professor Oak explained. "Your mothers accompanied me as they were worried about your safety. We was told about your location from some nice people on Shamouti Island.".

"I see..." Ash mused, not sure what else he could say.

Although Ash was at a loss for words, Delia certainly wasn't. She stood tall, looming over her two sons, with her hands on her hips. The expression on her face was not new to either boy as they have both seen it before. Ash has seen it after doing something reckless, while Drake would see it whenever he would belittle his brother back before they made a mends. It made both boy's wish the legends were still fighting, it was a lot less scary.

"Young men, care to explain to me why you are in such a dangerous place? All of you were right in the centre of this thing." Delia questioned harshly.

"Um well... Ya see." Ash blushed in embarrassment as he struggled to find the right words.

"We didn't get much choice, in our defence." Drake reasoned. "We were just travelling through when the storm made us stop off on Shamouti Island.".

"So how come your here and not still on Shamouti Island?" Delia asked her other son, now crossing her arms.

That shut Drake up, he was normally good and fighting his corner with logic and reasons, but he didn't have a good answer for this question. Even if he did, he knows better than trying to argue with his mother. Unfortunately, Leaf isn't too concerned with the wrath of the boy's mother.

"But Mrs. Ketchum, Ash saved the whole world." Leaf informed.

"It was actually quite impressive." Misty added.

"Oh. He did, did he?" Delia questioned as her judgemental gaze turned back onto her son with the yellow mouse Pokemon sat on his shoulder. It appeared mentioning the would saving part hadn't been the right thing to say.

"I'm sorry, mum." Ash apologised with a guilty expression.

"Ash, honey, because I could've lost my whole world." Delia told her son with watery eyes.

At this revelation, Ash's eyes widened. Of course, saving the world meant very little to his mother. The only thing she cares about is her two-son's safety. If anything happened to Ash, since they are travelling together, would likely also happen to Drake. She would prefer to keep them at home where she can protect them with a boring normal but safe life, rather than running head first into danger and saving the world. It's what all mothers want for their children.

"Boys, I know you're travelling to become Pokemon masters and travel every day. You are both so much like your father in that regard." Delia teared up as she spoke directly from her heart. "However, that doesn't mean I don't worry about you every day and wonder if you're alright. I know I can't stop you, but I still miss you both.".

"... Mum." The twins replied at the same time.

"Please boy's, I just want you to be safe." Delia continued. "Things may have worked out this time but you might not be so lucky next time. That is why I want you both to promise me to stay as safe as you can.".

The boys couldn't stand seeing their mother so upset and both of them embraced her with another loving hug. They both love travelling and be a trainer, but they never considered how their mother must feel. Of course, she has Mimey, Grace, Rose and can visit the lab but none of them are her little boys. The least they could do is call her more often to let her know they are alright.

"Also." Delia added. The made the twins prepare for another ear full, as they braced themselves. "Try and save the world a little closer to home. Each day, your both my hero's.".

"Sure mum." The boys replied at the same time, with bright smiles on their faces. Ash decided not to bring up the information he received from Lugia as he doesn't want to upset his mother even more. He knows just the person to speak to about this whole thing.

"Delia's right, Serena." Grace spoke to her daughter as the twins enjoyed their moment with their mother. "I am so happy you are travelling with your friends and have found a dream to pursue but I worry about you, as well. That's why I flew over here to make sure you're alright.".

Serena nodded her head in agreement as she too gave a massive hug to her mother. Just like Delia, her own mother is worried about her. She has always been hard on her own mother, especially when it comes to trivial things like fashion. In return she has always felt pressured into finding a suitable dream to go after quickly, but despite these minor issues, they both love each other. Serena decided she could also call her mum more often to just let Grace know she is safe.

"I love you, mum." Serena told her mum as the two shared a loving hug.

Leaf and Rose were stood next to each other, slightly behind the rest of the group. Each had a happy smile on their face, with their arms crossed. Honestly, they looked like twins if not for the age and their different hair styles. After a couple of moments, Rose turned to her daughter.

"Leaf, I know your just like I was when I was a kid, but I also miss you and like to know your safe." Rose informed. Leaf heard this and responded with a bone crushing hug, which almost knocked Rose over. Once Rose regained her balance, she returned the gesture to her daughter.

After a few more moments, the embraces came to an end. Ash had a brainwave as he looked at the professor. He kneeled down and began to take a very important item out of his backpack as he spoke the Pokemon professor.

"Professor, I have something for you." Ash informed.

"What could that be?" Professor Oak asked as he watched the raven-haired boy search through his bag. He has a pretty good idea what Ash is on about and is unable to keep the excited look off his face. Soon Ash brought the item out and handed it to the Professor. "The GS ball.".

"Yes sir, here it is." Ash smiled as he saw the excited Professor. "Delivered safe and sound.".

"Ah, I can't wait to study its secrets." The Professor replied as he finally held the mysterious Pokeball in his hands. "As for now, since everything seems fine here, we best be going back. I'll be sure to give you all an update on the GS ball when you return to Kanto. Good luck in the Orange League, Ash.".

"Take care of yourself, Professor." Serena told the pokemon Professor. Along with the others also wishing him similar things as Professor Oak climbed into the helicopter.

"Serena, remember what I said. While I am happy you have a dream and great friends, I only care that your safe." Grace told her daughter, as she gave Serena one final hug. Once the embrace ended, Grace also climbed onto the helicopter.

"I know you can't promise to stay safe Leaf, but could you please at least try?" Rose asked her daughter as she embraced her with a hug.

"I'll try." Leaf giggled as she returned the hug. Soon the embrace ended, and Rose also climbed back aboard the helicopter.

"Well we can speak about this whole world saving business when you get back to Kanto." Delia told her sons as she crushed them with one last hug. "Just keep save and enjoy the rest of your journey in this region. And try to call home more often.".

The boys agreed and soon the embrace ended. Delia also climbed aboard the helicopter. While they would've offered them a lift back to Shamouti, but the helicopter is full, and they have their Pokemon. The kids waved by as the aircraft took back off towards Kanto. With that part over, the group called Maren who still had her ship in good condition, able to take them all back to the main island. They decided to stay one more night to enjoy the rest of the legend festival.

* * *

Later that night, the party was in full swing. After the group ate and had a good dance, Ash went outside to the beach they arrived on with Pikachu and Togepi. While he wants to keep having fun, he needs to call someone while Lugia's words are fresh in his mind. Taking his Pokegear out, he dialled the number he needed. It was about a minute before the person picked up.

"Hey Ash, how's it going?" Red asked through the Pokegear.

"Dad? How did you know it was?" Ash questioned with confusion. "Is that another aura ability?".

"Technically yes, but your too far away for me to do it now." Red replied. "Although it is something just as amazing called caller I.D.".

"Hehehe, guess I didn't think of that." Ash laughed at his dad's laugh. Although it was a happy enough tune, Red is far from an idiot. Along with the 'present' Ash's ghost sent him and the thing with his son's aura which went on, he knows something is going on.

"Ash, as much as I like to think you called just to say hi. I think there is something you want to speak about." Red told his son.

"Yeah, err Dad. Something has happened." Ash nervously replied. "We are on Shamouti island in the Orange Islands and we just took part in something called the legend festival.".

"And you was the chosen one?" Red guessed.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Ash asked.

"I've heard of the legend. I had a sneaking suspicion that you was the one prophesised." Red guessed. "You know how I told you we got your name from the legends, well once I saw your name I put two and two together.".

"So, the legends also chose Drake's name?" Ash asked.

"They did give us a name for him, but Delia didn't like it, so she chose his name." Red replied. "I would rather face any of the legends then her any day.".

"Was that name, Wes?" Ash asked. While he wanted to laugh with his dad, he couldn't.

"Who told you?" Red asked.

"Lugia... He took me for a flight once the whole thing was over." Ash replied. "He also told me...".

"Hold on, Ash. I don't need or want to know what else he said." Red stopped him before explaining. "If I needed to know, then they would've told me before. If I knew what was destined for either of you, I would try and stop it. I can't do that, so I can't know. I've accepted that the legends have destined things for both yourself and your brother. As long as I don't know what is planned, I can't stop it from happening.".

"So, what should I do? Because I don't want to let Drake become what I was told." Ash replied.

"You put it to the back of your mind. Nothing you do will lead to whatever is destined." Red replied. "Just be sure to offer him any support he needs when that time comes around. And whatever is destined happens, don't blame yourself.".

"... Thanks dad." Ash replied sadly. His dad just enforced what Lugia told him. While he isn't happy about what lies ahead for him, Serena, Drake and everyone else, he knows he can't do anything. "By the way dad, my aura was locked away for this whole thing. How can I get it back?".

"That will probably happen once this call ends." Red answered. "While rare, a lot of users get tested like that and once its back, you might notice something different.".

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"You'll see." Red teased. "Anyway, it was time I was going. I have that present from your Haunter to deal with. And good luck in the Orange League, you have a chance to do something even your old man hasn't been able to do.".

"You haven't won the Orange League?" Ash asked.

"No, I wasn't invited. Probably because my Gyarados is much less affectionate." Red joked. "... I'll talk to you later son, tell Drake I said hi as well. And for your mum's sake, try to keep safe at least until the end of this league. You know she worries about both of you. Love you.".

"I'll try, dad." Ash laughed. "Bye and love you too.".

The Pokegear turned black as the phone call came. Ash put the device away with a sigh, he hoped his dad would be able to do something to stop the thing Lugia told him, but he didn't even want to know. Maybe they are right, and he just needs to let it happen. Still, his dad did tell him one thing and he will be sure to do it. With his mind made up, Ash turned towards the two Pokemon who came out with him.

"You both heard what Lugia and dad said." Ash told them. "While we can't stop it happening, we need to be ready to help out when the time comes. If nothing else, we will be sure to keep him on the straight and narrow. Us three and Marowak won't let him turn back to how he was or even become worse.".

"Sure, we won't." Pikachu replied with determination.

"Toge-Priiiii!" Togepi chirped before finishing with a yawn. He doesn't quite what any of this is about, but he will help his daddy and uncle Pikachu with anything they needed... But for now, he could do with a good sleep.

Ash picked the young fairy type up and rocked him to sleep. One minute it seems like he is ready to start training and the next he is the same baby that hatched from the egg. While he won't be able to compete in the Orange League, it shouldn't be long before his training officially starts.

" _Hello again, chosen one_." Lugia's voice appeared in Ash's head.

"Lugia? Where are you?" Ash questioned.

" _Everywhere, and no-where_." Lugia replied cryptically. " _Anyway, I stopped by as I remembered your aura needed returning to its normal state_.".

Suddenly, Ash began to glow blue. A light blue misty flame seemed to raise off his body as his pupils also glew dark blue. In the moment, Ash seemed one with the earth itself. He could feel the spin of the plant and the essence of life in every direction. It felt like magic. After about a minute, the blue glow seemed to fade with his pupils being the final part to turn back. Although Ash could tell his aura had been returned, something did feel a little different.

" _Chosen one, as you can probably tell I have unlocked another of your abilities_." Lugia informed.

"Which one, Lugia?" Ash asked.

" _Now what would be the fun in telling_?" Lugia asked. " _You shall experience it soon enough, but I must be off. And I believe your mate is on her way to find you_.".

Before Ash could respond, he heard a beautiful sound fill his ears. It was a female voice calling out his name, while a little bit away she was clearly getting closer. It didn't take a genius to work out it was Ash's girlfriend, Serena. Soon the honey-blonde girl found her boyfriend on the beach where they arrived.

"There you are, Ash." Serena spoke softly as she approached him. "You've been gone for over half an hour, when are you coming back to the party?".

"Sorry, I just wanted to get some air." Ash replied with his typical toothy grin. "Plus, Lugia just gave me back my aura so it should be working properly now... Even if I can't control it fully.".

"Don't worry." Serena reassured as she gave her boyfriend from the side. "You'll get the hang of it when the time is right. And for now, we match since I can't control my psychic abilities either.".

Ash chuckled lightly at his girlfriend's statement. He truly is lucky to have such a wonderful girlfriend. The two stood silently in a close embrace, just enjoying the romantic atmosphere of the beach at sunset. After a few minutes, Ash remembered that he has a talk to have with Serena, so he turned towards her.

"Serena." Ash started softly. "I think we should talk about what happened with Melody.".

Serena ended the embrace and looked at Ash with a concerned expression. She knew they would have to talk about this at some point, but she just didn't want this time to ever come around in all honestly. She knows she behaved badly but doesn't know what to say right now.

"I know you've been scared lately. Scared that if I just returned your feelings after you outright pointed them out, then I might do the same." Ash told the honey-blonde girl, who seemed surprised that he knew how she felt. "But I wouldn't hurt you. You may think I only accepted your feelings after catching Sandslash, but the truth is your feelings were pointed out as we left Celadon. I wouldn't just return feelings unless I genuinely shared them. It wouldn't be fair on either of us.".

"... I'm sorry." Serena whispered as she realised her fears were unfounded.

"Serena, I get why you acted how you have but we can't go through this again." Ash spoke a little more sternly. "I love you, Serena. And only you. I wouldn't cheat or fall for another girl just because she flirted or something. So, acting this way only hurt since it felt like you didn't trust me.".

Serena gasped as she never intended to come off this way. She was acting so clingy because she feared Melody would steal her love away but by acting that way she only hurt the person she cares so much for. "I am truly sorry, Ash. I never meant to make you feel like this.".

"I know, Serena. And I also made the mistake of letting Melody get to you without any support." Ash apologised. "So, I think we should both learn from this situation, you can use it to not be so jealous and trust me while I can use it to take more of a look at how your feeling and offer more support.".

"Sounds like a plan to me." Serena smiled as the two hugged one another once again. After a few moments, Serena smiled brightly as she got an idea. She pulled back from the hug and placed her arms behind her back while trying to look as sweet as possible. "Ya know Ash, we just made a deal. Normally when a deal is made the people do something to seal the deal, like a handshake or... A kiss.".

Ash smiled as his girlfriend back shy and nervous, far from the affectionate girl earlier on. He took a couple of steps until he was directly in-front of her. He placed a hand on her face before gently lifting her head to look him in the eye rather than at the floor. After a moment of the two sets of eyes locking together, Ash leaned in and placed his lips onto hers.

It was like the first time when they kissed, as electricity ran through both of their bodies. It seemed as if the whole world disappeared as Serena wrapped her arms around Ash's neck in order to deepen the kiss. Ash's hands moved to her waist, to also hold her close. If the couple kept their eyes open, then they would've saw that Ash's aura had activated and was covering the couple. Although they could definitely feel its effect as this was arguably the best kiss the two have ever shared. It was almost as though the couple's emotions were being flowed across their auras to even cell in their bodies. It was magical.

Although this adventure is over, the group still has the Orange League to look forward to, not to mention Serena will get to watch the Grand Festival as well. What happens once this adventure is over is anyone's guess. What region will they go to? What friends will the make? How will they go about achieving their ultimate goals? In the end, they shall face what comes up together, while the journey continues...

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	20. Grand Festival

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the Grand Festival and the start of what I am going to call the Pummelo Stadium arc. The two main parts to this chapter will be Serena learning from the grand festival, and Ash preparing for the upcoming Orange League. I can see a lot of people considering this a 'filler' chapter, but I don't think it is. I can also see a lot of people complaining that I stuck the whole grand festival into one chapter but since no main character (one of the travelling group) is competing, I don't see a point in expanding it any further. There is also a bit which happens at the end, a nice amourshipping moment which I hope to turn into a nice source of comedy throughout the league, it will make sense when I get to that point. I have also changed the poll, to one about Misty and her Pokemon team. This one will be up until I start the Johto arc. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 20: Grand Festival_

"Shauna! There you are!" Serena called out as she made her way to the coordinator with an Ivysaur by her side. Misty and Leaf are also with Serena, following her to the coordinator through the crowded lobby of Pummelo stadium. "It's great to see you again.".

"Same Serena." Shauna replied to her new friend. "And it's great to see you two again, Leaf and Misty.".

"Yeah, it's been a long time." Misty replied with a friendly smile.

"It's been even long for me." Leaf jump in. "Anyway, I can't wait to see what other Pokemon will show up. I may even get to add some rare Pokemon to my Pokedex.".

"Yeah, it has been a while." Shauna smiled.

"So, Shauna, are you gonna tell us who you're going to use for the appeals performance?" Misty asked with slight nervousness.

"Are you scared about her using her Venomoth?" Leaf teased.

"NO!" Misty replied although it was obvious she wasn't being completely honest.

"Misty, seem to get on alright with my Beedrill and Drake's Pinsir." Serena told her friend.

"Don't worry Misty, I won't be using Venomoth until the battle round." Shauna reassured. "As for my partner in the appeals performance, that is a secret as she joined my team after we last met.".

The four girls continued to chat as they waited for the show to begin. Shauna had already registered so she didn't need to worry about that. Although the Kalos native soon got nervous which the other girls noticed.

"What's wrong Shauna?" Serena asked.

"Remember I told you about that rival of mine?" Shauna asked to which Serena and Misty nodded. Shauna mentioned her when they last met up when Serena saw the contest quite a while ago. "Well I just saw here go. I knew she would be here but knowing it and actually seeing her is quite different.".

"So, who is she?" Leaf asked bluntly.

"Here name is Lisia and she is from the Hoenn region." Shauna explained. "This is her second attempt at a Grand Festival and she also has an uncle who is a top coordinator, so she considered the favourite to win the whole thing.".

"It's okay to be nervous, Shauna. I know I was before each of my Chateau challenges." Serena reassured her friend. "Just remember to trust in your Pokemon and focus on preforming the best you can.".

"Thanks Serena." Shauna replied as she took a deep breath.

"Can all competing coordinators please make their way to the back to be ready for their appeals performance." A voice requested. "Likewise, can the viewers also make their way to the seats as there is only five minutes before the show starts.".

"Okay guys, guess this bye for now." Shauna told her friend.

"Right, good luck Shauna." Serena wished her friend.

"By the way Shauna, sorry if I miss your performance but I promised the guys I would help them with training this afternoon." Leaf apologised.

"Don't worry Leaf, just the fact your here means a lot." Shauna replied before the girls went their separate ways for the show to begin.

* * *

Ash and Drake are stood on one of the beaches of Pummelo stadium. The group arrived on Pummelo island last night. This morning Ash registered for the league which starts in a week and called Professor Oak to send the rest of his Pokemon over.

Serena, Leaf and Misty left not long after breakfast to meet up with Shauna since today is also the first day of the grand festival. While the two groups won't be seeing each other for most of this week, they know it needs to be done since Ash has to prepare for the league and Serena needs to learn all she can for when she takes part in contests wherever they go once they are done in the Orange Islands.

"Come on out, everyone!" Ash shouted as released all his Pokemon. Pidgeot, Ivysaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Gyarados, Muk, Primeape, Haunter, Sandslash, Tauros, Dragonair, Aerodactyl, Lapras and Snorlax all appeared in a line on the beach, with Pikachu joining them. Togepi attempted to follow Uncle Pikachu but Ash picked him up. "Sorry Togepi but you're not ready for battles yet. Why don't you stay with me and cheer them on?".

"Daddy-Priiii!" Togepi chirped happily from his daddy's arms. Drake released his team of: Charizard, Starmie, Pinsir, Snorlax and Ponyta with Marowak joining that line up. Ash looked at his brother.

"This is your chance to work on anything you need, feel free to have my team spar in whichever way you see fit." Drake explained. "Except for Ponyta, she isn't exactly battle ready and she needs her daily brush.".

Ash smiled at his brother after hearing that, who would've thought that Drake would be so insistent about something as simple as giving a Pokemon a brush every day? While Ash is concerned about what Lugia told him, that little detail does give Ash hope for when that time comes.

"What!?" Drake asked before he guessed what his brother was thinking. He mumbled something before rolling his eyes. Calling Ponyta over, he left the rest of his team to give them a big area for the training session but stayed nearby in case he was needed for anything.

Once Drake was out of the way, Ash let that last thought go to the back of his mind and turned towards the group of Pokemon. Ash has a pretty good idea about what he wants most of them to work on, so he better gets started on the first training session. Of course, he has a whole week before the league starts but if the Indigo league taught him anything then it is not to waste any time.

"Okay guys, first the ones of you to spar with Drake's team." Ash explained. "Pikachu, I am pairing you up with Marowak. I know your electric moves are awesome, so I want you to work on your other none electric moves like: Iron Tail, Dig and Grass Knot.".

The two Pokemon nodded in understanding before walking over to a clear area of the beach. Taking a starting position like it was a regular battle field, Pikachu started off by charging forwards with Quick Attack. Marowak knew he could out speed him but has seen this move many times. As he predicted, Pikachu appeared above him with an Iron tail falling down on him. Acting on instinct, Marowak used a Bone Club to knock Pikachu back as the two attacks collided. Since Pikachu landed, he was momentarily stunned which allowed Marowak to push forward with more Bone Club attacks. Pikachu was able to use his agility to keep avoiding them but Marowak was pushing him back. Ash smiled at the sight as he knew they would be fine sparring for the time being. He turned to the rest of the Pokemon.

"Next up is Primeape and Pinsir." Ash called out as the two physical powerhouses stood in front of him. "Can you two work on you fighting style, no moves allowed. I need to be sure you can handle yourself even if unable to use any move in particular, Primeape.".

The two physically strong Pokemon nodded in understand before going over another clear area kind of close to Pikachu and Marowak but still at a suitable distance, almost like there is two battlefields next to each other. Taking up the normal starting positions, Pinsir taunted Primeape which made the Pig Monkey Pokemon charge towards him. Pinsir ducked at the last minute as Primeape went over the top of him. Before the fighting type could recover, Pinsir stood back up, sending the fighting type toppling over him and landing on his face. Primeape grunted something in irritation, he doesn't like being made to eat sand. Ash sweat dropped with a sort of smile on his face. While he trusts Primeape will be able to work on what he said, he knows the fighting type won't be happy. He turned back to the rest of the group and saw the two Charizard's with an egar expression to battle each other. Ash decided he could deal with them next.

"Yes, I am parring you two up together. But not to battle." Ash told the two fire flying types. He turned towards Drake's Charizard before continuing. "My Charizard is great with special moves but his physical moves could use some work. He has almost mastered Thunder Punch, so can you teach him Dragon Claw and Tail.".

Drake's Charizard nodded in understanding before making its way over to a rock bed on the opposite side of the beach to the already sparring Pokemon, being close to them would only distract Ash's Charizard. Speaking off, Ash's Charizard took one last look at the sparring Pokemon before sighing and going towards his training partner. He was looking forward to a good battle, but he also knows this is just as important, so he put his disappointment aside to focus on his given task. Ash smiled as he saw Drake's Charizard start to explain how both moves work. With them onto their own task, Ash turned back to the rest of the Pokemon.

"Gyarados and Starmie, your next." Ash called out to the two water types. Both made their way, so they were directly in front of Ash. "Okay, I want you two to spar but stay on land. I can't guarantee what type of field we will be on, so I want to know you are ready in case it is a land battle.".

Starmie made a swift flick of its top pointer to act as a nod, signifying it understands the instructions and made its way over to the other sparring Pokemon also making sure to give the others enough sparring space. Gyarados followed his partner but not before giving his trainer an affectionate lick. The other Pokemon, while not inclined to show their appreciation to their trainer like the atrocious Pokemon does, they know better than to make a comment or judgement on it. Once the two water types were in position, Starmie fired several Power Gem attacks at Gyarados to test its dodging ability on the land. Despite moving a lot slower, he was able to avoid all the rock type moves with some impressive agility. Happy that they are doing what he asked, Ash turned back to the rest of the team.

"Snorlax's, Snorlaxies, Snorlax? Whatever the plural for multiple Snorlax is supposed to be aside, you two are next." Ash called the two normal types over, which they followed. Drake's was stood tall and strong while Ash's looked about ready to sleep. "Could you teach my Snorlax Ice Punch please. I think that would be useful surprise move for him to know.".

Drake's Snorlax nodded in understanding before walking over to the side of the beach where the two Charizard's currently are. It is clearly they are splitting the beach into two halves, one side is where they are practising knew moves and the other side is for those Pokemon who are sparring. Of course, this is only the first day in the week before the league. Like Drake suggested, they could have two sessions a day, a morning session and afternoon session. This means they not only will be using their time most effectively but have the chance to work on many different areas. Ash's Snorlax had his typically Jolly smile on his face as he followed his training partner, he is clearly much more laid back compared to the other Snorlax in the group. Ash smiled as he saw the lesson being, while different personalities he knows Drake's Snorlax will be a great teacher for his own. With only his Pokemon left Ash chose the last pair he pre planned.

"Okay, next up will be Pidgeot and Dragonair." Ash called out now that he gave Drake's Pokemon their roles. The two female Pokemon approached him. "Pidgeot can you help Dragonair with her mid-air combat skills. If she goes against an airborne Pokemon, I don't want her to be out of a comfort zone.".

Dragonair rolled her eyes in annoyance. How dare he suggest she has a weakness when battling in the air? Pidgeot smirked and said something along lines of, if the princess doesn't think she needs help with air battles then she should prove it, before Pidgeot shot high into the air with great speed. Dragonair was shocked that the bird would dare speak to her like that before narrowing her eyes, locking on to her target. She will prove the danger of playing with fire to that bird. Dragonair shot after Pidgeot with an extreme speed attack. Ash chuckled lightly as he knew Pidgeot would be the perfect partner to get Dragonair to work on a weakness since she wouldn't back down to the princess. Ash turned back to the remaining Pokemon and quickly decided who to pair up.

"Ivysaur, Tauros, your next." Ash called over his next two Pokemon. Ash has already gone through the partnerships he had in his head for the Pokemon so now he is pairing those left together to work on their weakness'. "Tauros, I want you to help Ivysaur with defensive manuvers against physically strong Pokemon. Ivysaur, you have already proven to be able to adapt to the defensive style and good against special moves, so this should help with the other side of the issue.".

The two head stong Pokemon nodded in understanding and made their way over to the sparring side of the beach. Tauros started off at quite a distance before charging at the grass poison type with a Take Down attack. Ivysaur prepared by getting his Vine Whips ready to intercept but Tauros was moving so fast that Ivysaur didn't react fast enough and didn't know what to use his Vine Whip's on to stop the wild bull. Tauros continued his Take down and used his horns to send Ivysaur flying. That gave Ivysaur the info he needed. Tauros turned around and went charging back towards Ivysaur. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Ivysaur used his Vine whips to wrap around Tauros' horns and used them to divert the charge away from him. While not perfect, it is a clear improvement. Ash smiled as he knew both those Pokemon are serious and smart, he doesn't need to worry about them getting distracted or not being happy about working on a weakness.

"Haunter." Ash called over, knowing if he didn't give the ghost something to do soon, she would likely do something which involves a tsunami or a circus. The psychotic ghost floated over to him. "I want you to work on aiming Shadow Balls at those rocks while moving... And don't blow anything up.".

Haunter sighed in annoyance before floating over to where the two Snorlax and two Charizard's are. She tried to get the four Pokemon's attention, but they weren't giving her any attentions. Sighing in defeat she decided to just do as Ash requested. She clicked her fingers and an iPod appeared in her hand with a pair of head phones. She played 'Never Gonna Give You Up' and started to sing along as she threw Shadow Balls at the rocks.

"Ha, you just got Rick-Rolled." Haunter laughed at the readers. Ash sighed as he turned back to the rest of his Pokemon.

"Muk and Aerodactyl, your next." Ash called the two Pokemon over. "Aerodactyl, I know your already great at dodging in the air, but could you help Muk with his accuracy? I want him to try and hit you with Sludge Bombs while you're in the air. You understand Muk?".

The two Pokemon nodded in understanding. Muk crawled over to where the other sparring Pokemon were as Aerodactyl took off into the air. The dinosaur had to avoid a falling Dragonair as she was sent flying by Pidgeot. Aerodactyl chuckled to himself lightly as he knows Dragonair must've said something to offend the female bird, probably about her battle capabilities. Otherwise she wouldn't be taking a training match as seriously as a really battle. While he has never lost to Pidgeot, he has a tone of respect for her as she has proven to be one of Ash's stronger Pokemon. Putting those thoughts to the back of his head, he realised both himself and his training Pokemon are in the right position. Soon Muk sent several Sludge Bombs towards him. While these two are about as different in terms in personality as you can get, neither have a problem with each other and will take this training session seriously. Ash smiled at the sight before turning back to the remaining three Pokemon.

"Blastoise and Lapras, your next." Ash decided as he knew Sandslash wouldn't work well with anyone he paired him with. The two water types turned towards there trainer. "Blastoise, I want you to work with Lapras on how to battle in the middle of water in case we go on a water field.".

The two water types agreed to the training session and made their way over to the sea. Lapras was a little apprehensive since the big pranking turtle actually scares her. She feels more comfortable around Ash's other female Pokemon or Pikachu or Gyarados, who is like a father figure, but she knows she has to give everyone a chance. Once in the water, Blastoise explained that on a water-field they can hide under the water for surprise attacks before getting her to practise her swimming completely underwater. While a strong swimmer, this is a first for Lapras, so she was struggling at first. Ash smiled as he trusts Blastoise would be a good training partner for Lapras to not only help with training but also help her open up. As much as Ash hates to admit it, there time in the Orange islands is coming to an end and they haven't found any sight of Lapras' family. He is starting to lose hope that he can reunite them and while he is happy for her to stay on the team if that is what she wants, he doesn't know how to break it too her. Putting that thought to the back of his mind, Ash turned to his only remaining Pokemon.

"Okay Sandslash, now it is just gonna be you and me." Ash smiled at the ground type. Sandslash growled something while rolling his eyes in annoyance, while Ash has proven to actually want to help him, his happy personality really annoys the ground type. "Let's start off with a run for warm up.".

Sandslash nodded in agreement and the two started run around the perimeter of the beach. Ash sighed as Sandslash wouldn't actually speak up. While it is a clear improvement as there was a time Sandslash would attack him if he suggested such a thing. Still the ground type has stuck to his word and is giving Ash the chance to help him and while it is working, Ash knows Sandslash won't fully move on until he talks everything out with the person he blames his hatred on, the 'stupid cape wearing weirdo' also known as Lance but the problem with that is Ash doesn't know if he will see the elite four member again.

Once the two finished there run they worked out by preforming several work outs like: push-ups, sit ups, jumping and several others, to work on their physical strength. Sandslash has to admit, he enjoys this training the most as Ash is proving he wouldn't get his Pokemon to do anything he wouldn't do.

* * *

It wasn't long before Serena, Misty and Leaf made it into the arena which is the same place where all of the Orange League battles will take place. The stadium looks like it can hold a few thousand people but compared to the Indigo stadium it is pretty small.

"Welcome one and all to the beautiful Pummelo stadium, home of the one and only Orange League." The female MC announced as she stood centre stage of the main battle field. This isn't a massive competition as the Orange Archipelago is one of the smaller regions, and the stadium that it is taking place in is the same one which will hold the Orange League in a week's time. "Today you will get to watch our lovely coordinator's put-on appeal performances but first. Let's meet our judges.".

The main lights went down but a spotlight lit up a desk where three figure sat in the dark. Suddenly a spotlight appeared over the first figure to show an older man with grey slicked back hair in a red blazer and suit.

"First we have the Director of the Pokemon Contest Committee." The MC announced as she gestured to man. "Mr. Contesta.".

"I look forward to see what all of our talented coordinators have in store for us." Mr Contest spoke up as the crowd cheered.

Another spotlight light up the figure next to him. This time it lit up a smaller man with light brown hair. He also is wearing a navy-blue blazer and suit. Unlike the first judge who has a serious expression, this one has a bright smile on his face.

"Next we have the President of the Pokemon Fan Club." The MC announced as she gestured to the second judge. "Mr. Sukizo.".

"I am sure all of these coordinators will be, remarkable." Mr Sukizo spoke up.

The final figure was lit up by a spot light to reveal a familiar face to everyone. It is Nurse Joy. There are three Nurse Joys who are working on this island because of both the Grand Festival and upcoming Orange League so who knows which one this is. Although it is likely the one who works here all year round.

"Finally, we have the always kind and caring. Nurse Joy." The MC announced as she gestured to the nurse.

"I can't wait to see all of the happy and health Pokemon compete alongside with their trainer." Nurse Joy commented with a bright smile.

"Now it is time for our first contestant." The MC announced. "Coming all the way from Lilycove in the Hoenn region, we have Chaz Kazura.".

All the lights went down as a young man with medium length blonde hair and a deep sea blue suit walked out onto the stage with a posh walk. As a single spotlight appeared on him. He simply clapped and the whole stadium lit up. With a flick of the wrist, a Pokeball appeared in his hand.

"The time is yours, Machoke." Chaz spoke up as he launched the Pokeball into the air.

In a flash of light, the fighting type appeared in front of him. A circle in the floor opened up as a giant workout weight appeared. Knowing exactly how this performance is meant to go, Machoke walked up to the work out equipment.

Moving like a professional weight lifter, the Superpower Pokemon lifted the heavy weights up in one go. She began to easily raise and lower the weights as if it was some sort of work out. The crowd cheered at how easily the fighting type was moving the incredibly heavy weight.

Bring the movement to a stop with the weights still high above her head, Machoke began to glow red as her muscles doubled in size. She used Strength. With her strength now at an all-time max she let go of the weights with one hand.

Showing she could easily hold the weights above her head with one hand, she took it to the next step. She began to spin it around in her one hand with ease, practically showing off her strength. Once she got the rhyme of the spin down, Machoke lit her free hand up with a fire Punch.

Striking upwards with perfect timing she knocked off the safety clips weights fell off the and landed in a nice pile. Machoke jumped into the air with the now light long piece of metal still spinning. As she fell back down and stuck the pole into the ground. The crowd cheered yet again at the show of strength.

For the final part of the performance, Machoke walked up and grabbed the two massive weights which fell off the pole, now buried into the stage. Taking a deep breath, she threw the two metal weight discs high into the air. They went flying above the whole stadium.

Machoke jumped after them and appeared in the middle of them as they all reached the maximum height. Clenching her two fists, they glew white as she powered up a double Dynamic Punch. Thrusting her two fists into the centre of the two discs, they imploded upon impact. Machoke fell back down to the field, landing on one knee with a fist in the ground, the correct term being a Superhero landing.

"And we're done." Chaz spoke up again now the appeals performance was done. He approached his female fighting type who stood up, being sure to remove the metal pole from the ground to help with the clean-up job.

"Now that shows exactly why Machoke is known as the Superpower Pokemon." The MC spoke up as the cheers calmed down. "But let's see what our judges thought.".

"While not the typical flashy performance since in an appeals round, it showed cased Machoke's strength." Mr Contesta spoke up. "Congratulations as that is exactly what an appeals performance is meant to do.".

"It was remarkable." Mr Sukizo added with a bright smile.

"I am so happy to see Machoke has been kept in such good condition." Nurse Joy added.

With one final cheer, Chaz & Machoke walked away. The MC went on to announce the next constant. The show was great as all the coordinators put on a great show but none of them

It was quite a while before the MC introduced Lisia. "And now it is time for the fifteenth contestant, from Sootopolis City its Lisia Lutia!".

A teenage girl around the age of fifth-teen walked out onto the stage. She has long Turquoise hair, with a white and blue sparkly tank top. The same colours made up her skirt along with arm pads and a neck pad shaped like clouds. Finally, her shoes were light sparkling blue.

"Take the stage, Pikachu!" Lisia shouted as a female Pikachu dressed in a blue sort of maiden outfit.

The Pikachu jumped out from behind Lisia and landed in front of her before she tensed up. Just like Chaz's Machoke, Pikachu knew her routine well enough to not need any instructions.

Pikachu started by closing her eyes and tensing up as several Icicle Spheres appeared high in the air. She used Icicle Crash and the large pieces of ice fell onto the stage, creating a sort of ice ring.

The female electric type jumped onto the ice and started to skate around like an ice skater. As she was skating around with both skill and elegance, she powered up a Shock Wave. The electricity began to spin around the skating Pokemon.

Electrical sparks reflected off the ice to create a sort of sparkling effect. Pikachu continued to skate around in the circle as the Shock Wave continued to build up the electricity. This lead to the electricity creating rings around the ice until Pikachu couldn't be seen.

Suddenly, Pikachu appeared flying high above the now electrical prison with a Hidden Power Ball in her hands. She threw it downwards as a sort of explosion appeared. The electric types dress blew up with the wind which slowed her decent.

The explosion broke both the ice and the electricity up into a sparkling display. Pikachu did several spins around the air as she slowly descended towards the floor as if doing a sort of dance. Finally, Pikachu landed gracefully on the stage directly in front of the trainer as the sparkles made her eyes shine. The crowd started to cheer loudly.

"And finished." Lisia called out as both Pikachu and herself curtsied to the crowd.

"What a beautiful and dazzling show of this unique Pokemon's abilities." The MC spoke up as the cheers calmed down. "But let's see what our judges thought.".

"What a great way to not only show off your Pikachu's beauty, but also its unique qualities." Mr Contesta spoke up.

"It was remarkable." Mr Sukizo added with a bright smile.

"Plus, Pikachu's coat is still shining, it is clear she is one happy & healthy Pokemon." Nurse Joy added.

The crowd cheered once more as Lisia and her Pikachu walked off the stage. The show continued on with more performances although the two highlights belonged to Chaz and Lisia, arguably because they didn't need to give their Pokemon instructions for their performances. As the afternoon got underway, Leaf left to go and find the twins to help them with Ash's training session. Soon only one more coordinator remained.

"And now it is time for our last performer, from Vaniville Town in the Kalos region, it's Shauna Sana!" The MC announced with excitement.

"Shauna's from Vaniville Town? Wow, I didn't know she was from the place I was born." Serena gasped.

"Right, I keep forgetting you was born in Kalos and not in Kanto." Misty added. Before they could continue their conversation, Shauna started her performance

Shauna walked out onto the stage slowly and quietly, many might think she is nervous by her body language but if you looked into her eyes you would see a flame of determination. She held a Pokeball in her hand.

"The stage is yours, Persian!" Shauna shouted as she threw the Pokeball. In a flash of light, the normal type appeared in front of her. "Start off with Shadow Ball Ping Pong.".

While Persian doesn't quite know the whole performance well enough to do it on muscle memory, she knows the different sections well enough that just hearing the name is enough and she doesn't need to be told what each move is.

Persian formed a Shadow Ball at her mouth and launched it high into the air. Persian's tail was coated in metal as the Shadow Ball came down on the other side of the field. She was using Iron Tail. Sprinting across the field, Persian whacked the Ghost type move back into the air.

The Shadow Ball began to fall on the other side of the field but yet again, Persian showed off some great speed and whacked it back into the air with her Iron Tail attack. She did this again, sending the Shadow up into the air again.

"Now use Fireworks." Shauna instructed.

Persian locked her eyes onto the Ghost type move as it began to fall towards the centre of the field. Persian leaped high into the air as electricity began to spark off her body. Mid-air she launched a powerful Thunderbolt at the Shadow Ball, which resulted in an explosion which looked like a firework. Persian gracefully fell back onto the field with the firework making her coat shine. Persian landed perfectly in front of Shauna.

"And finished." Shauna stated as she and Persian struck of pose, as the crowd cheered although it wasn't quite as loud as the cheer Chaz or Lisia got.

"What a combination of beauty and athleticism." The MC spoke up as the cheers calmed down. "But let's see what our judges thought.".

"You were able to not only show off how active and strong Persian is but also her beauty." Mr Contesta spoke up. "But the whole performance was a little short.".

"It was remarkable." Mr Sukizo added with a bright smile.

"Persian has clearly been raised well." Nurse Joy added. "You should be proud of yourself.".

With one last curtsy, Shauna and Persian ran off stage. The MC spoke up again. "Now that we have seen all the coordinator's in their appeals performance, we will take a short break while our judges decided who will move onto the top 8 and the battle rounds.".

* * *

"Okay Leaf, we should be back in a few hours." Ash told his friend. "Are you sure you're okay to watch them all? They all know what they should be doing so they shouldn't cause any trouble for you.".

"I'm sure Ash." Leaf replied for about the billionth time. "The way you keep worrying makes you look like such an old women.".

"Well we should be going." Drake told his brother, with Ponyta by his side.

"Your taking Ponyta with you?" Leaf asked with concern. She was hopping that this would be her chance to get to know Drake's Pokemon as a way to prove herself to Drake and finally get him to confess to her. She can't do it with his other Pokemon because they are sparring with Ash's Pokemon so Ponyta was her only hope.

"Of course." Drake replied bluntly. "Ponyta hasn't left my side since I caught her, and she isn't ready to spar with any of the other Pokemon.".

The brothers left with one last goodbye and Leaf sighed, guess her plan to get Drake to confess won't work this time. She took one look around at all the Pokemon in their training session. Even her team is helping some of Ash's team. The training sessions are:

Pikachu is sparring with her Flareon matching flamethrowers and Thunderbolt together. There was no particular reason these two were paired up, the twins just knew that Pikachu and Marowak normally spar together so they didn't want them to get use to each other and allow other weaknesses to appear as a result.

Pidgeot is in an aerial battle with her Fearow. Fearow has a much more aggressive fighting style compared to all the other flying types in the group, he fights a lot more like Sandslash in all honesty but Pidgeot is proving herself to be one not to back down.

Ivysaur is learning how to use Giga Drain effectively from her Venusaur. Venusaur is also helping Ivysaur out with his evolution problem. While he is adapting to the more defensive style he still isn't keen on evolving again so this seemed like a good move since Venusaur has gone through what he is scared of.

The two Charizard's are in a battle as well. Although they are under strict instructions to keep the destructive elements to a minimum and they also know if their battle interferes with any of the other Pokemon then it will be stopped. The same goes for everyone but for these two most of all.

Blastoise is practising his defensive against psychic types with her Slowbro. It might seem weird that Blastoise is Ash's best counter to Psychic types in a way but the powered up dark moves and the fact that Haunter is Haunter, along with her slight weakness thanks to her poison type, that has been proven to be the case.

Gyarados is dealing with healing defensive strategies by sparing with Leaf's Clefable. Gyarados has proven himself to be quite adapt to battling on land but has also proven to get angry when faced against a defensive monster so that is part of why he is sparring with Clefable, to help with that slight anger issue.

Muk is learning defensive manuvers against one of his weakness' by sparring with Jynx. While Muk has learnt to absorb ice type energy with his Ice Punch and can deal a lot of damage with Shadow Sneak to psychic types. He is a defensive mon by nature and those options aren't always available.

Primeape is practising his speed assault against Drake's Snorlax, similar to how he battled Machamp before. Primeape is proving to struggle with Snorlax but in a whole different way as a lot of his attacks are just bouncing off Snorlax despite having a type advantage.

Sandslash and Aerodactyl are sparring as Ash knows Aerodactyl can effectively handle the ground type, plus while Sandslash doesn't like the dinosaur, he at least respects him. Plus, if needed, Aerodactyl is strong enough to fly Sandslash somewhere for him to calm down, even if the ground type doesn't want to.

Tauros and Pinsir are matching physical strength. While it is known that Tauros is nearly unstoppable once his speed has been brought up, the normal type is working on using his strength when stationary since the option for a run up isn't always available.

Lapras is out in the water with Starmie, learning the move Psychic. While this might seem like a weird since Lapras master Ice Beam in a short amount of time, she is actually struggling with Psychic. This is because she is an ice type so learning an ice move is much more natural. Plus, Psychic is a tricky move in general.

Marowak is sparring with Ash's Snorlax to help him handling smaller and quicker opponents. Marowak is having a similar problem as Primeape since a lot of his attacks are bouncing off Snorlax. Although Snorlax isn't having much luck in landing his own attacks either. It is kind of funny to watch in all honesty.

Finally, Haunter and Dragonair are having a 'sparring match' although if you were too look at it, you might think it was an actual battle rather than a sparring match, this is because these two are so hot headed that they can keep each other distracted and provide a good enough challenge until their trainer returns.

Well, if she can't go through with her original plan to get Drake's attention by getting to know his Pokemon, she decided to work on her tan while the Pokemon trained as a Plan B to get the confession she craves. How could this plan not work?

Meanwhile the twin brothers were in the computer labs at the Pokemon centre. Drake was showing Ash the league database and how to effectively research his opponents in the league competitions. The website shows all the league battles that the trainer partook in, along with all their Pokemon used in league battles and all of their moves used. Although one thing it doesn't have is any new team additions not used in a league yet. Taking Ash for example, his profile still only shows his Blastoise as a Wartortle and doesn't mention anything about his Lapras or Snorlax.

"So, there you have it." Drake told his brother after going through the website for two hours. "But you don't know who your facing in the league until after the opening ceremony, so I would focus on the rest of this week then make your decision of who to use with researching them.".

"Great, thanks Drake." Ash thanked.

"Don't mention it, you helped me with bonding after all." Drake replied. "I might not even have Ponyta if it was for you.". The fire type nuzzled her head against Drake's arm to emphasis the point, she has grown really fond of the boy she can call her trainer.

"Hehehe, yeah." Ash laughed. "But speaking of Ponyta, I think Leaf wanted to spend some time to get to know her.".

"You know Ponyta doesn't like to be left alone with who is quite frankly a stranger to her." Drake replied. "Or did you forget how long it took before she would let you pet her without almost burning your hand off?".

"Still. I think Leaf likes you." Ash replied with a sweat drop as he remembers the fire horse Pokemon almost burning his hand off. "Why don't we head back now that we are finished here, and you can introduce Leaf and Ponyta.".

"Um, no." Drake replied bluntly.

"Why not?" Ash asked. "You'll need to give Leaf some attention at some point, especially if I am right about the liking you bit.".

"Why not?" Drake repeated. "Three reasons, one she scares me. Secondly, I want to train along with Marowak and the others. I wouldn't want them to feel like I have forgot about them. Finally, you don't even know if she does like me. That is just a theory.".

"A Game Theory!" Haunter appeared out of no-where. "Thanks for watching.". Haunter disappeared again before any questions could be asked.

"Your Haunter's weird." Drake spoke up after about a minute awkward silence following her departure.

"You won't hear any argument from me." Ash replied. The two brothers returned to the beach where their Pokemon were training.

* * *

Back at Pummelo stadium, the girls met back up in the lobby as they wait for the judge's decision about exactly who will move onto the top eight. Serena and Misty are happy that their friend did so well while Shauna isn't as excited as the nervous wait continues on.

"Don't worry Shauna, you did great." Misty reassured. "I am sure they will put you through.".

"Thanks Misty." Shauna attempted a smile although she is still clearly nervous.

"Anyway Shauna, let's put that out of your mind." Serena tried a different approach. "I didn't know you was from Vaniville Town.".

"Yeah, I was born and raised there." Shauna replied. "Why?".

"Because even though I spent half my life in Kanto and even travelled there first, Vaniville was my first home." Serena explained. "Who knows, if we didn't move then we might've ended up being friends.".

Shauna was quite sure how to respond to that. While it would've been great to grow up with Serena, that would also mean Serena didn't meet Ash or any of her current Pokemon. Who knows they might've even become rivals for showcases over in Kalos. In all honesty, everything that has happened would probably be for the best. Misty sensed Shauna's uneasiness and decided to change the topic again, besides something has been bothering.

"Hey Shauna, I've been wondering something. Back at the contest we saw, the judges gave out points which decided who would move on." Misty spoke up. "How come they didn't use that system here?".

"Oh, they are thinking about routing out that entire system because it kind of gives away who moves on." Shauna explained. "Not to mention it doesn't consider that some later performance could be missed because of an early over score.".

"I guess that makes sense." Misty mused before the screen above them lit up with the MC on the field.

"Our judges have made their decision and the eight coordinators moving onto the top eight are on the screen now!" The MC announced as the camera moved to reveal the screen she gestured to.

One by one an image of the coordinators appeared. The first one was of Lisia with Chaz quickly taking up the place of the second one. Five more images appeared of other coordinators who also performed in the first one. There seemed to be a long pause as they waited for the final image. Finally, Shauna's image appeared in the last spot on the screen.

With the first round over, it was time for the contest battles to begin. The pictures on the screen were mixed around before two of them being placed together to reveal the four battles for the top eight match's which'll take place tomorrow.

* * *

The next day was the top eight battles. Shauna ended up battling a boy and his Nidoqueen, with her Venomoth. Unsurprisingly, Misty decided to help the boys with today's training to avoid the bug type. Leaf also decided to spend today helping the brothers to grab Drakes attention, only for it to fail. The time limit in this battle ran out but Shauna ended up winning because she had more points. Lisia and Chaz also won their battles, but both knocked their opponents out before they reached the time limit. Once all the battles were done, the top four battle match ups were revealed, and it was time for Shauna to battle her rival, Lisia.

* * *

The next day it was time for the top four battles. Shauna VS Lisia is the first battle of the day and is taking place on the main field. The MC took the place on the ref stand. Leaf decided to watch this battle with Serena since her previous attempts to get Drake's attention failed.

"On my left, it's Shauna. And on my right, it's Lisia." The MC announced as both trainers gripped there Pokeballs. "Five minutes on the clock and... Begin!".

"You're on, Ivysaur!" Shauna shouted as she released her Seed Pokemon. With a mighty cry, the grass poison type appeared on the field.

"Show time, Altaria!" Lisia shouted as she released her dragon flying type. The Humming Pokemon appeared on the battlefield and gracefully took off into the air, high above the grass poison type. Leaf was excited to see the Hoenn native Pokemon and took out her Pokedex to scan it:

 _Altaria, The Humming Pokemon. The final evolved form of Swablue. Altaria dances and wheels through the sky among billowing, cotton-like clouds. By singing melodies in its crystal-clear voice, this Pokémon makes its listeners experience dreamy wonderment._

"Altaria, start off with Dragon Pulse." Lisia instructed.

Altaria was gracefully floating around the field and let out an elegant cry as a dark blue orb appeared by her mouth. The beautiful sound which came out of brought a smile to everyone's face and Shauna's points fell slightly. The Dark blue dragon type energy was fired towards Ivysaur

"Counter with Sludge Bomb!" Shauna shouted.

Ivysaur launched several blobs of purple sludge out of the plant on his back. The poison type move collided with the Dragon Pulse, which caused an explosion, filling the sky with black smoke as Lisia's points fell slightly.

Altaria didn't need to be told what to do next and let out another elegant cry as the black smoke turned into a white misty smoke. Altaria used Mist. The dragon type shot out of the top of the Mist as the Mist made her coat shine. Lowering Shauna's points.

"Bring her down with Magical Leaf." Shauna instructed.

Ivysaur let out a mighty cry as several razor-sharp leaves with a pinkie purple out surrounding them shot out. Acting like some sort of homing missile, the leaves shot off after Altaria in the air. Lisia's points dropped.

Altaria again didn't need any instructs and fired a powerful Flame Thrower out of her mouth. The Flames shot across all of the Magical Leaves and destroyed them, with only piles of sort remaining which fell out of the sky. Shauna's points fell.

"Now go in for a Fury Attack." Lisia instructed.

The Humming Pokemon did a skilful loop in the air for diving down towards Ivysaur, using the fall to pick up her speed. In a matter of seconds, Altaria was directly above Ivysaur and began to extend her head in a pecking fashion as Shauna's points fell.

"Dodge it!" Shauna shouted.

Ivysaur began to use what mobility it had to avoid the incoming Fury Attack but due to its size, it just looked awkward as Altaria continued to push forward. Due to one of them struggling to keep moving and the other missing her attacks, both trainer's points fell. Shauna new she had to do something soon.

"Quick Ivysaur go over Altaria with Vine Whip!" Shauna shouted.

The Seed Pokemon sprouted four vines out of the plant on his back before whacking them against the ground, sending Ivysaur flying into the air. This caused Lisia's points to fall even further. Although the Hoenn's native smirked as she saw her chance.

"Finish it with Sky Attack!" Lisia instructed.

Being stuck in the air, both Shauna and Ivysaur had to watch helplessly as Altaria charged at the grass type with a power barrier surrounding her. The dragon collided into Ivysaur, which caused an explosion.

Ivysaur fell to the ground out of the explosion landing on the floor with bruises and scratches as Altaria shot through the top of the explosion as she used Refresh to heal any signs of injury. The points no longer mattered as Ivysaur wasn't getting back up.

"Ivysaur is not able to continue so Lisia will be the coordinator moving onto the final." The MC announced.

Shauna sadly recalled her Ivysaur with a thank you as Altaria landed next to Lisia, who congratulated the Dragon type. As the crowd cheered for the two competitors, they made their way towards the exit where they finally met up.

"You did a great job raising your Ivysaur, Shauna." Lisia congratulated. "And you made it to the top four in your first grand festival. You should be proud.".

"Thank you, Lisia." Shauna replied rather quietly. "And good luck in the finals.".

The two girls parted ways and despite being happy with what Lisia said, Shauna was still disappointed with how things turned out. This may have been her first grand festival, but she made it to the finals in her first Master Class. Is she going downhill as her journey has progressed?

The rest of the day had the second top four battle to decided who would be Lisia's opponent in the final. Unsurprising, it was Chaz who won the battle where he destroyed his opponent also knocking all the points away before the time limit was up or before the Pokemon fell.

* * *

The next day was the day of the final battle, it was Lisia against Chaz. Some might find it ironic that the two trainers in the final of the Orange Archipelago are both from the Hoenn region but due to most trainers travelling their home region first when they are unexperienced, it isn't an uncommon occurrence.

The MC stood where the ref box is as Lisia stood on one side of the field with Chaz on the other field. The crowd were cheering for the two trainers who are about to battle. Many believe they could describe who would win based on the type advantage, but a contest battle is so much more than that.

"On my left, it's Chaz. And on my right, it's Lisia." The MC announced as both trainers gripped there Pokeballs. "Five minutes on the clock and... Begin!".

"The time is yours, Machoke!" Chaz shouted as he launched the Pokeball into the air. The fighting type appeared on the field and took up a battle stance like she was ready to take a heavy blow.

"Show time, Altaria!" Lisia shouted as she released her dragon flying type. The Humming Pokemon appeared on the battlefield and gracefully took off into the air, high above the fighting type.

To start the battle, Altaria was soaring around gracefully as she used Safeguard to make herself look better. She knows Machoke is best at close ranged combat so by staying at a distance would be the best course. Chaz's points fell down.

"Rock Tomb then you know how to continue." Chaz instructed with a flick of his wrist.

Machoke tensed up as a boulder formed between her hands. It was a medium size but once it finished growing, Machoke held it above her head before throwing it towards the Dragon type.

Altaria acted on instinct and swooped under the rock to avoid it as Chaz's points fell. Unfortunately, that was what Machoke predicted and she clenched her two fists which became coated in metal. Machoke charged forward with impressive speed before appearing next to Altaria. He unleashed a massive assault on the Dragon type as he used Bullet Punch.

"Dragon Breath." Lisia instructed.

Altaria let out an elegant cry before a thin stream of dark blue flames shot out of Altaria's mouth. The dragon type move struck Machoke head on, sending is falling back to the field where it landed with a heavy thud.

The dragon type move ended, and the audience held their breath as Chaz's points fell. Machoke pushed herself out of the creator created by the blast slowly. Soon it became clear that Dragon Breath's secondary effect had taken effect, Machoke was paralyses but to everyone's surprise, Chaz was smirking and Lisia knew why.

"We need to finish this quickly Altaria, go in for a Sky Attack!" Lisia shouted.

Altaria let out an elegant battle cry as she dived towards as a power barrier surrounded her. Machoke crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited for the impact as she know what her trainer would want.

"Time for our secret weapon, Machoke." Chaz smirked.

The dragon type closed in as Machoke's hands began to glow. Although luck wasn't on Machoke's side as the paralysis took effect and cancelled the move she attempted to use. Altaria crashed into Machoke causing some massive damage as Chaz's points took a heavy blow.

Altaria shot up from the collision, using refresh to make herself look as good as new. Chaz clenched his fist at the turn of events, while it is true that the paralysis has activated his Machoke's ability, if she can't move then the power boost is a waist.

"Keep up the pressure, Altaria." Lisia instructed. "Use Dragon Pulse.".

The Humming Pokemon continued to soar around the field, showing off her beauty as a Dragon Pulse formed at her mouth. She sent a dark blue beam of Dragon type energy towards the fighting type. Using the move, she previously attempted, the glowing fists seemed to absorb the Dragon type energy as Lisia's points dropped.

"Machoke knows Duel Chop!?" Lisia questioned as she realised what move the fighting type was using. "Quick stop it, Altaria!".

The dragon type move curtsy of Altaria came to an intimidate stop but the damage had already been done. Machoke had used the Humming Pokemon's move to power up her own. Knowing what was about to be instructed, Machoke jumped towards Altaria who was in a startled state at her trainer's outburst.

With the Duel Chop being double powered by both the ability guts and from absorbing energy from the Dragon Pulse, this move could prove to be the one to knock Altaria out. Lisia attempted to shout for Altaria to dodge but a second before impact, a buzzer went off.

"And times up, the winner of this year's Grand Festival and the new top coordinator is..." The MC announced before taking a pause to build suspense. "... From Sootopolis City, it's Lisia Lutia.".

With the competition over, Lisia was given the title of Top Coordinator at the closing ceremony. Which followed by the after party. Ash joined Serena and the others for this event. Since the first day of the Orange League starts tomorrow, he wanted to give all his Pokemon a break since they have been working hard this last week. As the party came to an end, Ash went to the Pokemon centre to leave his Pokemon for an over-night check-up, which Serena decided to join him to do this task.

* * *

It is now Sunday night, tomorrow is the start of the Orange League. Almost everyone has gone to sleep. Ash left all his Pokemon with Nurse Joy for an overnight check-up, so they are ready for tomorrow. The only ones left awake is Ash and Serena, who are walking down the path towards the hotel they are staying in.

"I've missed this." Serena whispered as she lay her head on Ash's shoulder with their arms wrapped around each other.

Ash nodded in agreement but didn't speak, he was just enjoying the moment. Neither were sure how long it would take them to reach the destination but didn't really care. They are just enjoying this time together. Serena took a deep breath, she has been considering something for a while now and this is the perfect time to ask.

"... Ash, I-I want to ask you something." Serena stuttered slightly, clearly nervous.

"Sure Serena, you can ask me anything." Ash reassured before pecking her cheek. "You know that.".

"Well, err. I've been thinking." Serena started as she played with the end of a lock of hair. Her cheeks were slowly turning cherry red. "We've been together for a while and um, we're getting old. So-o I t-thought we could take the next s-step and shareabed.".

Ash wasn't sure what Serena said at the end as her voice was getting quieter as time went on. Ash knew she was nervous and scared, so he did the best he could by pulling her into a hug and whispering in her ear. "I didn't quite get that last bit, Serena. You don't need to be scared, just ask me.".

"Well, since we are getting older a-and closer. I thought maybe we could, um, share a bed." Serena repeated as she did her best not to crumble into a nervous ball but realising how it came out she quickly tried to explain herself. "I-I don't me we, ya know. I just thought, well, we are cuddling right now, and it wouldn't really be any different. Plus, it could save on money if we don't need to rent the extra bed and I thought we would be able to spend more time together.".

Ash was silent as he just stared at his girlfriend. She was now bright red and looking at the ground out of embarrassment. Ash is far from an expert when it comes to relationships. He knew this was something couples did but he wouldn't know when is the time to start. Still if Serena thinks it is a good time then they can try it. They know that it wouldn't go too far as they aren't old enough for that, but this shouldn't hurt anyone and if they discover it was the wrong thing to do, then they can easily go back to how things were before.

Knowing Serena, she is probably beginning to doubt herself since Ash has been silent for a while now. Acting cautiously, Ash placed a hand on her cheek, lifting her head so they were now looking each other in the eyes. He planted a small delicate peck on her lips before speaking.

"Serena, you know I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to relationship stuff." Ash spoke slowly. That proved to be the wrong thing since Serena's expression gave away the impression that she thought he was saying no, so Ash quickly continued. "But I trust you, if you think we are ready for this step. Then I am willing to give it a try.".

Once it hit her that Ash agreed. Serena threw her arms around Ash's neck and hugged him tightly, saying thank you repeatedly. She was so nervous that Ash wouldn't agree and would think she was weird for suggesting it in the first place, but she is so happy now that those thoughts were washed away.

The couple continued to the hotel. Serena went to her room to change into her nightwear while Ash went to his room to get his nightwear and his clothes for tomorrow. They could move all of the things over tomorrow because it is getting late. Once in his nightwear, Ash went to Serena's room with both nervousness and excitement rushing through him.

Ash entered the room to find Serena dressed in her typical nightwear while sat on the edge of the bed, clearly waiting for him. Placing his clean clothes for the morning on a spare chair, he walked over to his girlfriend, taking a seat next to her on the bed. While he is happy to give this a try, he is clearly nervous. Serena grabbed his hand to reassuring him before pecking his cheek.

She placed a hand against his chest before lightly pushing to encourage him to lie-down. Ash did this and as he did, Serena moved to his side as she pulled the quilt over the two of them.

"Nighty night, Ash. Love you." Serena whispered before planting a small loving kiss on his lips. It was short because both of them are tired. Serena yawned as she lay down next to her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around his torso while resting her head on his chest. "Sweet dreams.".

"Love you too." Ash replied as he pecked her forehead.

Ash wrapped his arm around her, as Serena snuggled into Ash more. While they were nervous at first, now they are actually here it is very comfortable, and they know there was no reason for them to be nervous. Before long the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms with massive smiles on their faces.

Now the time is here, tomorrow morning will be the start of the Orange League. Surprisingly, Ash hasn't ran into any of the other competitors but that is because he has been taking his training seriously. Serena saw Tierno and Trevor a couple of times at the stadium, but they only wished Shauna good luck before running off to do their own training. With him positive that his Pokemon couldn't have worked any harder this last week, he is confident for his upcoming battles.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	21. Orange League - Round I

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the first part of the Orange League. This will be the first round which shows two battles, it will make sense later in the chapter. Also expect some humour based around what happened at the end of the last chapter. As for the match ups, I hope you like with who I went with for both teams. In Ash's battle, I can see people wanting him to use Pikachu because of who his first opponent (I mean the Pokemon and not the trainer) is but there will be an explanation of why Ash doesn't go with him. Remember to vote in the poll, it is concerning Misty's team. This one will be up until I start the Johto arc. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 21: Orange League - Round I_

Ash blinked awake as the morning sun pierced through the window. He attempted to move to protect his eyes from the bright light but felt some sort of weight on his chest. Closing one eye to protect against the sun, he looked down to see his girlfriend with her head resting on his chest like he is her cuddly pillow. Serena's arms are also wrapped around his torso, almost possessively.

The raven-haired boy smiled at her as he remembered what happened last night. He stayed like this for about half a minute before realising he isn't a patient person and he doesn't know how long it'll be before Serena wakes up. Plus, it feels a little weird with her being asleep while he is awake. With his mind made up, Ash decided to try and get out of the cuddle.

First, he attempted to slide away but all that did was make Serena squirm in her sleep, before nuzzling her head against his chest. Ash sighed in his head as he knew he couldn't wake her up. " _Great, now what am I supposed to do_?".

Reciting his motto 'Never give up until it's over' in his head, Ash looked for some other way for him to escape. Looking around he saw that Serena's hands weren't linked, just lovingly around him. Ash came up with a plan and started by moving her top arm to her side. He sweat dropped when he realised her hand was actually over the second scar he received from Sandslash, he may have forgot to tell her about that incident since he knew how she would react.

With the first part of his escape over, Ash moved on to the second and more difficult task. Wanting to act quickly, Ash grabbed the pillow which Serena would've used if she wasn't cuddled up to him. Placing it next to his side where she will hopefully move on to it.

Ash placed his hand on the back of her head as he moved to the side again, this time keeping Serena from moving along with him. As his body was no-longer being used as a pillow, Ash used his free hand to move the pillow under her head. Finally, free from her cuddle, Ash was looking down at her before realising if she was to wake up right now then it would become very awkward. He placed a quick kiss on her forehead before getting off the bed. Ash failed to notice the smile on her face grow after the quick gesture, almost like she knew what he just did.

With him now free, Ash looked around at what to do. Normally, he would take a shower, but he left all of his shower stuff in his room and he doesn't exactly want to walk through the hotel in his pajama's when it is likely he will run into his friends. Yeah, how will they tell them about this whole arrangement?

Deciding that he needs a shower anyway, Ash moved into the bathroom while being careful not to wake Serena up. He looked around the bathroom before he found some of Serena's body wash and shampoo. Sighing, he knew this was the best he could do.

Ash took a quick shower while trying to be as quite as possible as he doesn't want to wake Serena up. Once done Ash quickly dried himself with a towel before wrapping the towel around his waist. He went to grab his clothes to get dress, only to realise he left them in the other room. Ash mentally face palmed. " _This just keeps getting better_."

No doubt Serena will be waking up soon if she isn't already awake. Knowing he has no other option, Ash slowly opened the door and noticed Serena seemed to still be asleep so maybe he will be able to get his clothes and back to the bathroom before either of them are stuck in the awkward or embarrassing situation.

Wanting to act quick, Ash practically ran out of bathroom to the chair he left his clothes on last night. Once he reached the chair, Ash noticed his backpack down by the chair's side along with Togepi asleep inside it, asleep. Ash frowned as he looked at the fairy type. While wrapped in a blanket to keep warm and looking comfy, Ash prefers him not to spend a lot of time in his backpack since it isn't a healthy living space especially for a growing Pokemon.

"Err, Ash?" A familiar female voice appeared behind the raven-haired boy. It didn't take a genius to work out who the voice belonged to and it was Ash's worst nightmare. He quickly turned around and his worst fear had been confirmed, Serena was a wake. Ash fell down in front of the chair due to the shock as his cheeks turned bright red. Lucky his towel kept him covered from the waist down otherwise things could be a lot worst.

Serena slowly raised from the bed and walked over to Ash before kneeling down. She has known him for long enough to know he wouldn't try anything so there must be some explanation to what is happening. While not the ideal thing to wake up to, she can at least give him the chance to explain himself.

"What's going on?" Serena asked with a friendly smile as she kneeled down next to the bright red Ash.

"Well, I woke up and I didn't want to seem like a weirdo or creep by just staying there while you slept so I got up and decided to get ready." Ash explained very quickly. "I went for a shower only to realise I left all my stuff in the other room, so I had to use some of yours, sorry about that. Then when I was done I realised I left my clean clothes in here, so I had to come back in.".

Serena giggled cutely at her boyfriend's explanation, while a little chaotic it certainly explains how she woke up to this sight. Knowing Ash didn't mean any harm and that this was one big mistake she found the whole thing kind of cute and silly at the same time.

"Ash, I think your trying too hard. You didn't need to worry about waking me up. If you didn't worry about it then I think this whole thing could've been avoided and if this is going to become a regular thing then we should agree that whoever wakes up first just wakes the other one up." Serena told her boyfriend.

"You mean, you still want to keep doing this even after waking up to me like this?" Ash asked, obviously shocked.

"Of course, this whole morning can be put down to experience, so it doesn't happen again." Serena replied with a friendly smile before learning in and placing a kiss on Ash's cheek before whispering. "Besides, I was looking forward to waking up in your arms.".

Both twelve-year olds were now red as Serena never meant to say that part, despite it being true. Acting quickly Serena stood back up before she could embarrass herself any more. She quickly moved to her wardrobe and grabbed some clean clothes before going to the bathroom, her whole rush took less than half a minute.

"I-I'm just going for a shower." Serena squealed in a louder pitch than she would've liked. "See you in a bit.".

The door slammed shut with both trainer's bright red from embarrassment. Ash got dressed and woke Togepi up as well. The young fairy type was confused as to why they were in Seren-A's room, which he could tell because of all the stuff that is set out by the mirror.

After around ten minutes Serena came out of the bathroom in her normal travelling clothes. Ash smiled when he saw her, he was getting a little annoyed that she took over double the amount of time it took him for his shower, but he has to admit she does look great right now.

Unfortunately for Ash, that isn't the only waiting that he has to do. Serena took a seat in front of the desk where the mirror is, and she started to brush her hair. She smiled at the fairy type in Ash's hands as she continued to brush her hair.

"Good morning, Togepi." Serena greeted the Spikeball Pokemon.

"Seren-A!" Togepi chirped a happy reply to the honey-blonde girl. He is still struggling with the 'A' at the end of her name. Unfortunately, Serena isn't able to understand what the little Pokemon is saying. Ash decided to bring up a topic that he would rather not talk about.

"So, Serena, um, what are we going to tell Drake and the others?" Ash asked. "I mean, should we just come straight out and tell them or wait or...?".

"Calm down Ash." Serena instructed her boyfriend. "I think we should just keep it between us for the time being. You know Leaf will start to tease us as soon as she finds out and we both know we aren't doing anything wrong. I think you just need to focus on the league then we can break the news once it is over.".

"If that is what you want." Ash smiled at his girlfriend's answer. He really doesn't mind when they tell them since they would need to tell them at some point but if Serena isn't ready then he will respect her decision. He completely understands not wanting to take on the teasing, so they will keep it secret until she is ready.

"I know you have your first battle today." Serena told Ash as she finished brushing her hair but was turning to check it looked fine in the mirror. In all honesty, Ash never realised how long Serena takes to get ready in the morning. Normally he would be in the cafeteria by now, but it would be rude for him to just leave her. Once she was sure it was fine she stood up and presented her 'look' to Ash. "Ta-da, what do you think?".

"You look great." Ash told her. His stomach growled in hunger, which made Serena giggle. She grabbed his hand before they walked towards the cafeteria hand-in-hand. While Ash honestly got quite bored while waiting for her, he doesn't have the heart to complain and she does honestly look great. As they were walking down the corridor, Serena decided to continue the conversation.

"Anyway, I was thinking. Once your battle is over, we can move your stuff to my room." Serena suggested. "I mean, you got your room for free since your competing, but we are paying for the extra one and no-one was even in it last night.".

"Sure, why not." Ash pecked her cheek. The couple continued towards the hotel's cafeteria with Togepi in tow. Togepi stared at his daddy and Seren-A with a confused expression, he still doesn't know why he woke up in Seren-A's room this morning or what these two are speaking about.

* * *

The couple walked into the cafeteria to find their friends: Drake, Leaf and Misty, with a table already. They went and picked up their own breakfast from the buffet before going over to the table. Ash had his typical full breakfast. Serena went with an omlet. Drake had his normal tea and toast. Leaf had a plate of pancakes with syrup. Misty had a bowl of cereal. While Togepi went with a warm bottle of milk.

It was the typical general chat during the meal with no-one questioning why the couple showed up together, it isn't uncommon for Serena to go and find Ash if he wasn't at a meeting place, so it was nothing out of the ordinary. Except Drake didn't fully believe the story as a couple things his brother did seemed off. He would be sure to question him when they are alone as that is when he will be most likely to get the true story out of his brother.

Leaf was sure to take the seat next to Drake at the table, practically trapping the scared boy in since he sat next to the wall but despite several indications from Leaf that she likes him, Drake didn't give her the slightest bit of interest. He did ask Marowak to save him when Leaf placed her hand on top of his, but the ground type only laughed at his trainer in the situation.

Plans were also made for the twins to go to the Pokemon centre straight after the meal while the others made their way to Pummelo stadium for the opening ceremony. Ash needed to pick up his team after their overnight check-up and Drake just wanted to get away from Leaf, she truly does scare him. With breakfast over the twins started to walk off towards the Pokemon, with Togepi in tow. Once he was certain they were alone, Drake decided to start questioning his brother.

"So, wanna tell me what happened last night?" Drake asked, as he noticed his brother instantly become nervous.

"I-I don't know what you mean." Ash attempted to play stupid. Unfortunately, Drake wasn't buying the act.

"What I mean is, this morning I went to your room only to get no response." Drake explained. "Plus, you smell suspiciously like Serena, almost like you used her shower stuff.".

"Um, well I..." Ash struggled to come up with an answer.

"The truth..." Drake insisted. "Or I could see what Misty or Leaf think about what is going on.".

"Well, I promised Serena that I wouldn't tell anyone." Ash pleaded as he didn't want to break the promise.

"... You spent the night in her room?" Drake questioned.

"How did you know?" Ash asked.

"I put two and two together." Drake replied matter-of-factly. "You clearly was there this morning, which is why you smell like she does. If she made you promise not to mention something, then it must be something you haven't done yet. It was the most logical assumption when considering all the facts.".

"... We didn't do anything, we just cuddled." Ash tried to reassure.

"I know you did." Drake replied before going on to elaborate. "Ash, you're my brother. I know you wouldn't go that far, at least not yet. Besides, even if you did. That would be your decision... Yours's and Serena's. It doesn't really affect me in the long run. I just don't like being lied too.".

"So, what are you going to do?" Ash asked.

"Nothing, there isn't a lot I can do with this info." Drake replied. "Don't worry, I will keep it secret so no-one else finds out.".

"... Thanks Drake." Ash sighed in relief.

"Just know if this will continue, then you'll need to tell Misty and Leaf." Drake replied. "It will become kind of obvious when we're back on the road once the league is over.".

"I know... But we are keeping it secret until Serena is ready to tell them." Ash told his brother.

"Fine." Drake replied before a smirk grew on his face. "Just be careful when we go back to Pallet, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when mum finds out.".

Ash gasped as he realised his brother was right. Once the league is over they have already agreed to go back to Pallet to see their families before deciding where they will travel next. It will also be the point where Drake parts off from the travelling group since they will compete in that region's league at the same time anyway. It isn't exactly what Ash wants after what Lugia told him but there is nothing he can do. At least this journey has helped them become like proper brothers.

It wasn't long until the boys reached the Pokemon centre where Ash retrieved all his Pokemon who are ready to battle. Of course, not all of them will battle today and before Ash decides who he will use, he needs to see who his opponent will be. With his team in hand and after greeting them all back, the boys set off for the stadium for the opening ceremony. Along the way, Pikachu learnt about where his trainer spent last night and couldn't resist teasing the raven-haired boy.

* * *

"Welcome ladies, gentleman, children and Pokemon of all species." The announce spoke through the microphone as the crowd cheered. Ash is in a locker room on his own except for Pikachu and Togepi, waiting for his cue to go onto the field. "It is time to meet the competitors who have proven themselves by earning the four gym badges of the Orange Islands. Going in age order, first we have Virgil Ranger from Floccesy Town.".

The crowd cheered as the oldest competitor with an Eevee on his shoulder walked out onto the field. Ash remembers the time he encountered the Unova native, it was that meeting which lead to the heart-to-heart between Ash and Sandslash. Speaking off, the ground type wants a rematch against Virgil's Vaporeon.

"Next is Harrison Hazuki from Littleroot Town." The announcer spoke as he walked out into the field.

While Ash hasn't spent much time with Harrison, there is no-doubt he is a strong trainer. He must be if he made it this far. If anything, Harrison might prove to be Ash's biggest challenge if he ends up facing him at some point since Ash hasn't battled or trained with, so his style is completely unknown to the raven-haired boy.

"Next is Tierno Snow from Santalune City." The announced informed as the Kalos native seemed to dance out onto the field.

The crowd seemed to cheer loudest for him, probably as a result of his dance moves. Lucky this competition is about bonding with Pokemon and not some sort of dance competition, otherwise Tierno would be almost guaranteed to win. Still Ash knows the Kalos native is strong, so he will need to be careful if he is battling him.

"And our final competitor is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." The announcer informed as he walked out to the field with Togepi in his hands and Pikachu by his side.

As Ash walked out onto the field, he was feeling a combination of pride and sadness. He was feeling pride because he is one of four trainers in the whole world to have made it too this point, if you don't count the previous year competitors but he was also feeling sadness as the announcer said he was the final competitor which means neither Trevor or Alvin have collected all the badges. They are both good trainers so if they are out already, then the pressure has been doubled.

The crowd cheered the four trainers who are now stood on the field. Virgil and Harrison smiled and waved at the crowd as the oldest two they know how to remain clam best in situations like this. Tierno began to perform some sort of break-dance which only increased the cheers. Meanwhile Togepi was getting scared with all the attention and attempted to hide by burying his face into Ash's stomach. The raven-haired boy attempted to comfort the fairy type which drew a lot of attention from the crowd for the 'cute' scene. Soon the announcer came back as the crowd settled down.

"Okay competitors and spectators, if you look towards the monitor then you will see today's match ups." The announcer informed. All attention was on the screen which lit up with the four competing trainers faces. The top row was labled morning and showed it would be Harrison battling Virgil. With the lower half being labled afternoon and showed it would be Tierno battling Ash. "If Harrison and Virgil want to take their positions, then the morning battle we get started momentarily.".

With the instructions given, Ash and Tierno made their way off the field. Ash went to find his friends who should be in one of the spectator's box's, as he wants to make sure they can watch Togepi during his battle and as he wants to watch this battle as he will be facing the winner assuming he beats Tierno.

* * *

Soon Ash was in one of the spectator's box where Serena, Leaf, Misty and Drake were waiting. Ash took the chair next to his girlfriend and Togepi jumped onto Seren-A's lap. He loves his daddy, but he didn't enjoy all those people looking at him and would rather cheer for his daddy where all those people can't look at him.

"So, Ash, are you sure you can afford to watch this battle?" Misty asked in a teasing tone. "I mean, shouldn't you be researching Tierno for your match.".

"Well I will when this battle is over." Ash replied. "Besides, I already have a plan to counter his dancing strategy and I will need to pay attention to this match since if I win then I'll be facing the winner tomorrow.".

"I wouldn't worry about that Ash, because I am going to win our battle." Tierno interrupted arrogantly as he and Shauna walked into the spectator's box, the brunette responded appropriately by pulling his ear, so he took a seat behind Ash.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I was you." Ash replied smugly before he looked at his girlfriend who was giving him a disappointing shake of her head, he knew she didn't want him to start a fight with Tierno and she is right, the better trainer will be decided on the field. Ash calmed down and sent her a small friendly smile to let her know he wouldn't keep the argument up. Happy with her boyfriend's response, Serena turned towards Shauna.

"It's a shame Trevor didn't make, Shauna." Serena spoke to her friend. "How come you didn't mention it last week?".

"Well Trevor lost because he couldn't match Cissy in her trials. He tried both before and after Teirno and failed both times." Shauna explained. "He was pretty upset and has been training hard since because of the failure. I just thought it was his thing to reveal, not mine.".

Serena nodded in understanding at that statement, if it happened to her then she would want to reveal it to people and not one of her friends. She decided not to continue the topic as it is quite sensitive and turned back the right way. She would normally get really into a battle if Ash is partaking in it, but she isn't a massive battle fan in all honesty, so she rested her head on Ash's shoulder since she can enjoy the moment with him. The group just enjoyed some small talk.

Walking out into the field, Harrison was on one side and Virgil was on the other, each taking their position in the trainer's box as a referee appeared on the ref's stand, which caused the crowd to cheer, drawing the groups attention. It was time for the first battle of the Orange League.

"This will be a two on two battle between Harrison and Virgil to see who will move onto the next round." The ref declared. "Both sides can make substitutions at any point and there is no time limit. Harrison shall reveal his Pokemon first.".

"Go Hypno!" Harrison shouted as the Psychic type appeared on the field in front of him. Ash scanned the Psychic type with his Pokedex:

 _Hypno, The Hypnosis Pokemon. The final evolved form of Drowzee. Hypno holds a pendulum in its hand. The arcing movement and glitter of the pendulum lull the foe into a deep state of hypnosis. While this Pokémon searches for prey, it polishes the pendulum._

With his opponent now in front of him, Virgil quickly selected his Pokemon. It is an easy choice for him to make since this Pokemon is not only his oldest partner but also holds a massive type advantage over Hypno. Taking the Pokeball out, Virgil launched it high into the air.

"You're up, Umbreon!" Virgil shouted.

In a flash of light, the dark type eeveelution appeared in front of Virgil on the battlefield. Virgil caught the Pokeball before putting it away as Umbreon took up a battle stance. Harrison wasn't happy with the match up, but he knew since he chose first that he would likely be at a disadvantage. The ref soon started the match. Since it was a new one for her, Leaf was sure to scan the dark type eeveelution with her Pokedex:

 _Umbreon, The Moonlight Pokemon. A final evolved form of Eevee. Umbreon evolved as a result of exposure to the moon's waves. It hides silently in darkness and waits for its foes to make a move. The rings on its body glow when it leaps to attack._

"Hypno VS Umbreon..." The ref raised his flags. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Harrison VS Virgil (P I):_

"Start off with Nasty Plot, Hypno." Harrison instructed.

Despite having a massive type disadvantage, Harrison has a plan to handle it by setting up. While not the ideal way to win a match, it certainly works. Hypno closed his eyes as he attempted to raise his special attack state. Unfortunately for them, Virgil wasn't about to let them set up.

"Taunt!" Virgil instructed.

Umbreon stood it's down before barking something out to the Psychic type. Hypno's eyes popped open at the sound in his ears. The Nasty Plot hadn't been activated yet, but the Taunt had taken effect. Hypno could no-longer raise his attacks.

Harrison wasn't happy as Umbreon likely knows Pursuit which means switching out is dangerous for him. Thinking quickly, Harrison came up with a plan to possibly win this match. Although Virgil wasn't so considerate to give him the chance to think and the Unova native quickly made his next move before Harrison could.

"Quick Attack into Bite." Virgil instructed.

Like a bullet, the Moonlight Pokemon Shot forward with great speed. Hypno was trained well enough to attempt to dodge the incoming attack but due to his training as a rescue Pokemon, Umbreon could easily adapt to the Psychic types movements.

Umbreon landed where Hypno once stood and quick turned towards the direction the Hypnosis Pokemon was now due to its dodging attempt. Unfortunately for both Hypno and Harrison, the Psychic type isn't known for his speed and wasn't prepared to dodge again.

The Dark type pounced onto Hypno, as he opened his mouth. As a natural reaction, the Psychic type brought his arm up to take the dark type move. Umbreon bite down hard on the Hypnosis Pokemon's arm, making him cry out in pain. Harrison smiled as he finally saw his chance to fight back.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Harrison shouted.

Despite the pain from taking the super effective dark type move, Hypno was able to raise his pendant in his free arm. Holding it in front of the dark type eeveelution, a series of blinding bright lights shot out, blowing Umbreon back while he took a super effective hit.

With Umbreon down after the hit, Harrison wasn't stupid and knew it would take more than just that one move to take down Umbreon. Luckily, he has another move which he can use to take down dark types. Like Virgil before, Harrison wasn't about to give either of his opponents a chance to recover.

"Focus Blast!" Harrison hollered.

Hypno formed the ball of fighting type energy in his hands before throwing it towards the Moonlight Pokemon who was pushing himself up after the powerful fairy type move. Virgil didn't even need to vocalise the command as Umbreon already knew how to react.

Umbreon fired off a Shadow Ball to intercept the Focus Blast. The two sphere attacks collided in the middle of the field, imploding upon contact into a black smoke cloud which covered half the field. Umbreon used this as cover to prepare for his next move.

"Confuse Ray." Virgil instructed.

Moving within the cover of the smoke cloud, neither Hypno or Harrison knew where the next move was coming from. Suddenly, several Confuse Ray balls flew out of the smoke cloud in several directions, but all were aiming towards Hypno.

The Psychic type would've been ready to dodge but with so many Confuse Ray's coming towards him from all different angles, he didn't have a clear escape route to use. He attempted to walk backwards to prolong the attack, but it was futile. One of the Confuse Ray's struck Hypno, confusing the Psychic type.

Without much choice, Harrison brought out Hypno's Pokeball. Even if Umbreon does have Pursuit, Hypno is still in a losing battle. He has tried all of his ideas for the Psychic type to take on a dark type and now he is confused. Hypno is in a losing battle right now, so Harrison attempted to recall him to the Pokeball.

"Pursuit." Virgil instructed.

Umbreon shot out of the smoke cloud, moving surprisingly quick for a tanky Pokemon. He reached Hypno before the light from the Psychic types Pokeball. Turning swiftly on the spot, Umbreon kicked the Hypnosis Pokemon with his back legs.

Hypno was sent flying across the field, missing the return beam completely. Hypno hit the wall before slumping down onto his stomach with swirls in his eyes. It was quite obvious the Psychic type wouldn't be able to return to the battle. Despite being a strong Pokemon, Umbreon proved to be stronger.

"Hypno is unable to battle, this first round goes to Virgil." The ref declared. "Harrison please send out your remaining Pokemon.".

* * *

"Return Hypno... And Thank you." Harrison sadly recalled his Psychic type.

Umbreon returned to Virgil's side where the Unova native affectionately petted the dark type eeveelution. Harrison quickly chose his next Pokemon, he would likely be at a disadvantage regardless of who he chooses since Virgil still has one Pokemon left. He will need a trickster if he is going to win. Harrison soon made his decision.

"You're up, Kecleon!" Harrison shouted.

In a flash of light, the Hoenn native Pokemon appeared on the battlefield. It seemed to change colours and for a little time was invisible before it returned to its normal colours and stood in a battle stance. Excited to see another new Pokemon, Leaf brought her Pokedex back out to scan it:

 _Kecleon, The Colour Swap Pokemon. Kecleon alters its body coloration to blend in with its surroundings, allowing it to sneak up on its prey unnoticed. Then it lashes out with its long, stretchy tongue to instantly ensnare the unsuspecting target._

"Take a break for now, Umbreon." Virgil whispered to the dark type before recalling him. He quickly swapped the Pokeball with another one before launching it high into the air. "You're up, Espeon!".

In a flash of light, the Psychic type eeveelution appeared. Since Kecleon is known for being tricky and it isn't so easy to get a type advantage over it thanks to its ability. As such, Virgil chose one of his smarter team members to hopefully make its tricks pointless. Leaf also scanned the new eeveelution:

 _Espeon, The Sun Pokemon. A final evolved form of Eevee. Espeon is extremely loyal to any Trainer it considers to be worthy. It is said that this Pokémon developed its precognitive powers to protect its Trainer from harm._

"Kecleon VS Espeon..." The ref raised his flags. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Harrison VS Virgil (P II):_

"Disappear." Harrison instructed.

Since he is clearly at a disadvantage with it being a two on one match, Harrison isn't going to take any risks. Kecleon knew exactly how to start this battle and did as his trainer instructed, disappearing on the very spot before running across the field without a sound.

However, neither Virgil or Espeon seemed the slightest bit concerned. Not needing her trainers voice to know what to do, Espeon's gem on her forehead glew bright as she used confusion across the field uncover the Colour Swap Pokemon.

"You know what to do, Kecleon." Harrison smirked.

Kecleon is one of Harrison's oldest Pokemon and knows how to battle quite well. Understanding exactly what his trainer means, the normal type charged at the Sun Pokemon. Reappearing in front of Espeon's face for a split second, jumping over the Confusion attack to avoid damage, Kecleon landed a powerful Sucker Punch attack.

This blow was enough to cause some pain to the Psychic type. Seeing the Confusion wave almost completely gone, Kecleon made a split-second decision and extended his tongue into the attack. He didn't really take damage from the disappearing attack, but it was enough to activate his Colour Change ability, turning Kecleon into a Psychic type. Not wanting to wait around, Kecleon disappeared once again before running off again.

"Future sight." Virgil instructed.

Knowing that Kecleon is going to be a much tougher opponent than Hypno was for Umbreon, Virgil wanted to get a surprise attack set up. Despite both Harrison and Kecleon hearing the move being called and watched as Espeon set it up. Due to how the move works, it isn't uncommon for trainers and Pokemon to forget about it during the heat of the battle. While it is a long shot, it is one Virgil can't afford to ignore.

Harrison smirked as Kecleon knows exactly what to do even without him saying it. Suddenly, Espeon shivered like she had just been terrified. Kecleon reappeared for split second, he was on Espeon's back and delivered a direct Lick attack to the Sun Pokemon. He jumped into the air before disappearing once again. Unfortunately, Virgil was able to notice something this time when the Colour Swap Pokemon did disappear. The mark on its stomach didn't changed.

"Signal Beam, Espeon." Virgil instructed once he spotted the mark he had been looking for. "To your right.".

The fact that Virgil had managed to spot Kecleon despite being invisible surprised both Harrison and Kecleon. The Colour Swap Pokemon attempted to dodge the incoming bug attack but his foot was caught in the attack due to his shock.

The attack was super effective because Kecleon had previously turned to a Psychic type and also activated his Colour Change ability again, turning him into a bug type. Kecleon also quickly turned himself invisible again. This time he kept running around to make it that more difficult for him to be spotted.

"Use Confusion once more." Virgil instructed.

Espeon's gem glew bright once more, a multicoloured wave of Psychic type energy flooded across the field as they searched out the Colour Swap Pokemon. Virgil smirked as Espeon was in the centre of the attack meaning the chances of a surprise result weren't likely. Unfortunately for Virgil and Espeon, Kecleon still has one more trick up his sleeve.

Harrison made no move to tell his Pokemon to dodge or launch a counter attack since he knows his partner will make the right move. The Psychic wave came to an end to almost everyone's surprise, there was still no-sign of Kecleon. Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared under Espeon but before either could make a move, Kecleon shot out of the shadow and landed a powerful blow on the Sun Pokemon. He used Shadow Sneak.

"Quick Espeon, use Psybeam." Virgil instructed.

Despite taking a powerful blow, Espeon is used to working under pressure. As she turned in the air, she fired off a multicoloured beam of Psychic type energy at the Colour Swap Pokemon before he could disappear again. Espeon landed gracefully on her feet as Kecleon was trapped in the Psychic move.

Also, being a smart Pokemon, Espeon knows Kecleon has since turned back to a Psychic type thanks to its ability. Taking the initiative, she formed a Shadow Ball directly inside the Psybeam. The Ghost type move shot throw the centre of the Psybeam before striking Kecleon with a super effective blow. The Psybeam came to an end as Kecleon was sent flying.

It landed flat on its stomach. This was a massive risk for Virgil as while that caused a lot of damage to the Colour Swap Pokemon, it also turned him to a ghost type and he has at least two ghost type moves which he can use for stab attacks. To Virgil dismay, Kecleon began to push himself back up, still able to battle.

"Shadow Sneak." Harrison instructed.

Kecleon stopped trying to push himself up and instead he just sunk back into the ground as a Shadow. Before Virgil or Espeon had time to react, the Colour Swap Pokemon had zoomed across the field, re-emerging from the shadow to deliver a powerful blow to the Psychic type eeveelution.

Espeon was sent flying from the powerful blow but Kecleon wasn't going to give it a chance to recover. Extending his tongue for another lick attack, Espeon was wrapped up while taking even more super effective damage. Flicking his tongue down, Espeon was sent crashing into the battlefield with swirls in her eyes. As Kecleon brought his tongue back in, panting slightly but still able to battle.

"Espeon is unable to battle, this second round goes to Harrison." The ref declared. "Virgil please send out your remaining Pokemon.".

* * *

"Return Espeon and thank you." Virgil sadly recalled his psychic type eeveelution.

They took a risk and it didn't pull off. Some might think that they would've won if they didn't use Shadow Ball but due to the Colour Change ability, Kecleon was hardly taking any damage from most of their attacks so they needed a powerful blow. It just turned out that Kecleon had more staying power compared to Espeon. Although it isn't in a good way so even though it is a one on one battle, Virgil knows he has the advantage, especially since his Umbreon has had a chance to rest up.

"You're up again, Umbreon!" Virgil revealed his dark type who appeared in a flash of light. The dark type eeveelution looked no worse for wear considering his battle with Hypno before. On the other hand, Kecleon looks ready for a nap. It is obvious who has the advantage in this battle.

"Well folks, it has come down to this. Whoever wins this match will be the trainer to move onto the second round of this year's Orange League." The announcer informed. "Will it be Harrison from the Hoenn region or will it be Virgil from Unova? Only one way to find out, keep watching.".

"Kecleon VS Umbreon..." The ref raised his flags. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Harrison VS Virgil (P. III):_

"We need to keep up the pressure, Kecleon." Harrison informed. "Use Shadow Sneak.".

Kecleon yet again disappeared into a shadow on the battlefield before zooming across the field to strike Umbreon. Harrison knows it won't cause much damage because dark type resists ghost type but due to them getting the STAB bonus power, it is there best move for right now.

"Detect." Virgil instructed.

Umbreon's eyes glew a light blue, almost the same colour as Ash's aura. Kecleon shot out of the shadow with great speed as he attempted to hit Umbreon, but the dark type effortlessly moved out of the way, so the attack moved. Kecleon is obviously faster than Umbreon, so Detect is his best way to avoid moves like that.

The Moonlight Pokemon doesn't need instructions for his next move and with his eyes still glowing, he sent out a ball of ghost type energy. He used Confuse Ray. The attack struck Kecleon and confused him upon contact. Checkmate, Virgil smirked as this battle is almost over.

"Use Ancient Power Kecleon and try and use them to defend yourself!" Harrison shouted in a panick. Normally Harrison wouldn't need to use such specific instructions but since Kecleon is now confused, it is best to be safe than sorry.

As the Colour Swap Pokemon was swaying around the field as if he was on a boat at sea, several rocks appeared around him and was also swaying in time with him, it was an amazing he was able to pull that move off since he is confused.

"Foul Play." Virgil smirked.

Umbreon stood behind the swaying Pokemon with a devilish smirk. While this might seem like a mean move since Kecleon is so helpless right now, it is playing into the natural nature of a dark type so Umbreon was happy to deliver the Foul Play attack.

Kecleon was sent flying from the super effective attack and crashed into the wall. If that wasn't bad enough, the rocks which were still floating also went flying in the same direction. One by one they crashed on top of Kecleon. Despite being turned into a Rock type after the first blow, it must've hurt. Once all were done, the Colour Swap Pokemon lay on its back with swirls in his eyes. He obviously could no-longer battle.

"Kecleon is unable to battle." The ref declared. "Meaning the winner of this match, and the trainer moving onto the second round is Virgil.".

* * *

Once the first-round battle was over, Ash set off from the group, so he could go and research Tierno. While he doesn't regret watching the battle because now he knows that if he wins then he would be facing Virgil, he only has about two and a half hours to decide on his team.

After the first hour of looking up Tierno's Pokemon, he isn't sure who Tierno will choose. He uses a variety of Pokemon and types, so it is hard to determine who will appear since it is only a two on two match. Still, all of his Pokemon seem to know his unique dance battle style. Ash knows not too many of his Pokemon could keep up with that style, so maybe his first Pokemon shouldn't even try.

With his first Pokemon decided, Ash quickly chose his second Pokemon based more on his first chooses weak points. His first Pokemon is a more tanky Pokemon and other then a couple of exceptions, isn't built for speed. So, his second Pokemon would need to be fast. His first Pokemon is also much more of a lover rather than a fighter so it would be good for the second choice to be a head strong battler. Lucky, Ash has a Pokemon which fulfils all these categories and thanks to their typing, the second Pokemon as a complete immunity to one of the first Pokemon's greatest weakness'. Soon Ash had both Pokemon decided.

Now that Ash has made his decision, Ash spoke to the two Pokemon he plans on using who were both happy with the plan. Soon it was time for them to move back to the field for the battle to begin. It might seem weird that it took nearly three hours between the two battles but there is only one field that can be used, and it had to be returned to a neutral standard to ensure the battle starts of fair and to ensure that the previous battle didn't affect the latter battle.

* * *

Ash and Pikachu stood in one of the trainer box's as Tierno stood in the opposite one wearing a confident smirk. The crowd was cheering loudly for both trainers, but it was difficult to make out who was cheering for who although in the end it doesn't exactly matter.

Serena, Leaf, Misty, Drake, and Shauna were sat in the same spectator's box as before. It seems Trevor still isn't ready to show himself since not qualifying. They get the special seating as they are guests of the competitors. A bigger regional league couldn't do this as they have over a hundred competing trainers, so those spectator boxes are reserved for the regions elite four and champion or their special guests. Each box is able to hold at maximum ten people, so it is quite roomy.

There are a total of two spectator boxes on Pummelo stadium. While Ash's and Tierno's friends filled up the first one, Virgil took his place in the second one. He would be battling the winner of this match tomorrow, so he should best keep an eye on them both. He won't be using either of the two Pokemon he used today so they have a chance to rest. Although he has already decided one of his Pokemon if a certain trainer wins, considering he met him earlier in this adventure.

"This will be a two on two battle between Tierno and Ash to see who will move onto the next round." The ref declared. "Both sides can make substitutions at any point and there is no time limit. Tierno shall reveal his Pokemon first.".

"Dance time, Raichu!" Tierno shouted as the electric type appeared on the field in front of him. Ash scanned his opponent, despite knowing it is Pikachu's evolved form, he doesn't know much else about it, all things considered:

 _Raichu, The Mouse Pokemon. The final evolved form of Pichu. This Pokémon exudes a weak electrical charge from all over its body that makes it take on a slight glow in darkness. Raichu plants its tail in the ground to discharge electricity._

Ash frowned when he saw the evolved form of his best buddy, knowing his number one partner, Pikachu likely wants to take him on, but Ash has promised this battle to some other Pokemon. With his decision made, Ash gripped his first Pokeball tightly.

"Wait, you're not going with Pikachu?" Tierno asked with shock. From what he knew of Ash, he assumed Ash would take up the challenge of proving evolution isn't needed by battling Raichu with his Pikachu for his easy win.

"No. Ya see, Pikachu already beat a Raichu back in Kanto. It was how we won our Thunder Badge, so he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. And I already promised this battle to some other Pokemon." Ash explained with a smirk. "I choose you, Muk!".

In a flash of light, the poison type appeared on the field. Despite being more of an affectionate Pokemon, the Sludge Pokemon made himself seem big and let out his best battle cry. He wants to show everyone what a great trainer he has, then they can share the celebration hug. Gyarados isn't Ash's only openly affectionate Pokemon after all. Tierno tried to hide the fact that his plan to take an early lead failed and brought out his Pokedex to scan Ash's Pokemon:

 _Muk, The Sludge Pokemon. The final evolved form of Grimer. Because they scatter germs everywhere, they've long been targeted for extermination, leading to a steep decline in their population._

"Raichu VS Muk..." The ref raised his flags. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Tierno VS Ash (P. I):_

"Let's get dancing." Tierno hollered.

Tierno began to perform a sort of break dance in the trainer's box but the amazing thing was Raichu was copying his movement like a carbon copy, not even a second behind. Raichu also had a larger stage to work with and was dancing around the whole field. Some might think it is impossible for Muk to catch up with those movements, but lucky Ash has a plan so the Sludge Pokemon won't need too.

"Sludge Bomb, all over the field." Ash instructed.

Muk opened his mouth and launched a series of poisonous blobs across the field. Raichu was able to flawlessly avoid the poison type moves thank to his dancing but it wasn't like Muk was even attempting to strike the electric type.

The Sludge Bombs hit the field and exploded into puddles of toxic sludge. As more and more Sludge Bombs struck the field, Raichu had less and less room to dance around. Soon only one spot remained where Raichu stood. The Mouse Pokemon had little room to launch attacks let alone dance. The space was much smaller than even the ref's stand.

"And Ash has brought an end to Raichu's smooth moves." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered. "How will Tierno handle this now that his usual battle style has been brought to an abrupt end?".

"Poison Jab." Ash instructed with a bright smile.

Muk slide through the sludge without an issue. He was like a water type on a water field. This may be the first time many people have seen a poison field but if there is one thing Ash is good at, it is controlling the battle field.

"Dodge it with Magnet Raise, Raichu." Tierno smirked. "Then back to the dance.".

Raichu began to charge up with a sort of small electrical field around him as Muk closed in. Despite being on his element, literally, Muk is still quite slow since his only real speed move is Shadow Sneak. Unfortunately for Ash, Raichu was able to activate his Magnet Raise before Muk reached them and took off into the sky.

"Muk, quick swap to Sludge Bomb." Ash instructed.

Tierno smirked as his electric type took off into the sky, dancing around. While this may not seem like a smart move because he hasn't actually launched any attacks yet, this is Tierno's usual strategy, tire out his opponents then finish with one powerful blow.

While it may not seem like a smart move for Ash to have only used poison type moves so far, they are actually the best moves in the current situations. Muk opened his mouth once more and launched another load of Sludge Bombs at the airborne Raichu. While Raichu's dancing was proving difficult to hit with all the dancing, these moves were nothing compared to Aerodactyl's aerial manuvers when training last week so it wasn't long before a Sludge Bomb collided with Raichu.

The electric mouse Pokemon was knocked out of the sky from the explosion and crashed into the sludge pool which was the battlefield. It burnt the electric types skin which was enough to delay his attempted take off.

"Shadow Sneak and stop him from escaping." Ash instructed quickly.

Muk disappeared into a shadow on the sludge pool before zooming across the field. Muk jumped out of the shadow, still using the speed from the move. Instead of landing a powerful ghost type move onto Raichu, he used his body and covered Raichu completely. Just like a previous battle against a certain Bellsprout.

"You see, Tierno. You have completely underestimated my Muk." Ash spoke seriously. "He was never gonna be one to match your Pokemon's moves, which is why we didn't even try. Because we knew that if we took them away, then the battle would be ours.".

"Use Thunder and escape Raichu!" Tierno shouted in a panick.

Raichu was clearly putting up a fight to try and move the Sludge Pokemon off him but it seemed useless. Several Thunder bolts shot out from under Muk, and it was almost enough to move the poison type but soon it stopped. Seems like Muk has more endurance then Raichu.

Not needing his trainer's instructions, Muk slivered off his opponent to reveal Raichu lying in the sludge pool. Nearly his entire body was covered by the purple sludge and swirls were in his eyes. Raichu was obviously in no position to continue this battle.

"Raichu is unable to battle, this first round goes to Ash." The ref declared. "Tierno please send out your remaining Pokemon.".

* * *

Tierno quickly recalled his electric type so it didn't have to stay in that toxic sludge any longer than necessary. With Raichu safe in its Pokeball, he looked at it sadly because of how easily they lost this battle. "... Sorry Raichu, I didn't take Muk seriously and you paid the price.".

While Teirno thought about who he could use next, Muk moved as fast as he could across the sludge field without using Shadow Sneak. Reaching Ash and Pikachu in the trainer's box, he jumped up to smoother his trainer with an affectionate hug. Pikachu acted quickly and moved out of the way. Ash was knocked over laughing as he was smothered in affection, earning a lot of cheers from the crowd.

"Hahaha, I'm happy too buddy." Ash laughed as he struggled out of the sludgy embrace. Standing up, Ash had to catch his breath as he pulled out Muk's Pokeball and held it out. "You did a great job out there, now take a nice long rest. I might need ya to battle later on.".

Tierno mentally went over his team. The biggest issue right now is the sludge which is covering the field. The best options to deal with this would be a steel type or a flying Pokemon. Unfortunately, he doesn't have either of those as an option. Guess his only real option is to wash the sludge away. He made his decision.

"Dance time, Blastoise!" Tierno shouted as the water type appeared on the field in front of him. Ash has his own Blastoise, but he decided to scan it with his Pokedex in case there was any recent discoveries he should know about:

 _Blastoise, The Shellfish Pokemon. The final evolved form of Squirtle. Blastoise has water spouts that protrude from its shell. The water spouts are very accurate. They can shoot bullets of water with enough accuracy to strike empty cans from a distance of over 160 feet._

"I choose you, Pidgeot!" Ash shouted as he released his female bird Pokemon. She landed next to Ash in the trainer's box before looking over the field which caused her to roll her eyes. Boys can be so messy. Tierno wasted no-time in scanning the female Pokemon with his Pokedex:

 _Pidgeot, The Bird Pokemon. The final evolved form of Pidgey. This Pokémon has a dazzling plumage of beautifully glossy feathers. Many Trainers are captivated by the striking beauty of the feathers on its head, compelling them to choose Pidgeot as their Pokémon._

In the Spectator's box, Serena is blushing as she watches Pidgeot take off over the field. Ash is looking so cool right now, she can only imagine what she would do if he wins. She would need to give him a special reward. Her cheeks turned an even darker shade of red, which Leaf easily spotted.

"What'cha thinking off, Serena?" Leaf asked with a bright smile, although she has a pretty good idea what is on the honey-blonde girls mind.

"Wha- nothing! I am not thinking of anything." Serena hastily replied, a little louder then she would've liked. Lucky the others were too busy watching the field to pay attention to the girls.

"Suuuuure..." Leaf replied, although her tone showed she didn't actually believe her. Although she is obviously in a teasing mood. "It's funny, you really have got Ash over his denseness since we all set off all that time ago. Part of me thought you wouldn't get through to him even if he woke up to find you cuddled up to him.".

Leaf had no idea how lucky she got, if she wants to tease her friend about something she probably just uncovered the best ammo ever. When she saw Serena's shocked expression and her face turn to an even darker shade of red, Leaf was able to easily connect the dots.

"Oooh, Serena your sly girl." Leaf nudged her with a wink. "Did you get him too...".

"Don't even go there, Leaf." Serena threatened, knowing exactly what the hyper-active girl was getting at.

"What?" Leaf asked with an _innocent_ look. "I was going to ask if he gave you a goodnight kiss.". Lucky for Serena, the referee made his call for the next round to begin. Although the blush on her face failed to leave. So much for keeping it secret until after the league.

"Blastoise VS Pidgeot..." The ref raised his flags. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Tierno VS Ash (P. II):_

"Use Hydro Pump and clean the field." Tierno instructed.

Jumping up into the air slightly, Blastoise withdrew into his shell. The water type's shell started to spin as powerful jets of water shot out of the holes where Blastoise's limbs or head would be. Landing on the small patch which didn't have a sludge, the water jets sprayed across the field washing most of the sludge away.

As Blastoise created a safe place for him to battle from, Pidgeot took up her initiative and used Work Up to power herself up. By the time Blastoise had created a suitable sludge free area, Pidgeot got off two Work Up's which puts her at a slight advantage. Blastoise ended his Hydro Pump and stood up on the field.

"Let's put those stat boosts to the test, Pidgeot." Ash smirked up to his female bird, being one of his more battle hungry Pokemon she doesn't need quite as many instructions. It is nothing against the younger or less experienced Pokemon because it is something which comes with time. "Use Brave Bird.".

Pidgeot let out a massive battle cry, one which could match the fiercest legends. Entering a speedy dive bomb, a power barrier quickly formed around the female normal flying type. Barely an inch above the ground, Pidgeot made a ninety degree turn as the power barrier burst open turning from an orange colour to a bright blue colour. She zoomed towards the water type, ready for a powerful blow.

Unfortunately, Raichu isn't the only one of Tierno's Pokemon to use the dance-strategy. Blastoise is also an experienced Pokemon and acting on his own experience began to dance, effectively moving out of the way of Pidgeot.

The power barrier faded away as Pidgeot took off back into the air. Normally, Brave Bird would cause recoil damage but that is from the impact as the power barrier creates a mini explosion hitting both Pokemon. Since Blastoise avoided the move, Pidgeot didn't take any recoil damage either.

"Ice Beam!" Tierno hollered as he copied his starter's dance moves.

Blastoise brought his dance to a flashy end before firing a beam of ice out of his canons. The ice type move shot through the sky towards the normal flying type but being a skilful flyer meant Pidgeot was able to easily avoid it, although Ash saw his chance to attack.

"Use Steel Wing to protect yourself and get close Pidgeot." Ash instructed.

Pidgeot coated her wings in metal before turning towards Blastoise and closing in. The metal made good protection for Pidgeot's wings as she made her way towards the water type. The ice sometimes hit the metal wings but that did nothing more than warn Pidgeot who was quick to adjust he path, ensuring the move didn't hit her or cause any major damage. Although Tierno realised what they were doing and waited for her to get close enough.

"Switch to Gyro Ball!" Tierno shouted once he was sure Pidgeot couldn't escape.

Blastoise withdrew into his shell as the ice beam came to an abrupt end. Spinning slowly a grey outline built up of steel type energy, the shell began to move towards Pidgeot. Despite the close difference between them, Pidgeot had faster reflexes then Tierno anticipated.

Using a Wing Attack on thin air as the metal coating disappeared, Pidgeot was able to quickly change direction so she was now facing the sky. Entering a speedy Quick Attack almost instantly, she zoomed away directly up as Blastoise followed slowly behind. Ash saw what was happening and quickly came up with a plan.

Pidgeot was high above the field once she knew she reached a safe distance. Being a heavy land bound Pokemon meant Blastoise couldn't follow directly up after her and her theory was soon proven to be correct as the gyro ball came to an end. Blastoise was about half way between Pidgeot and the ground as he started to fall towards the ground. Ash smirked as he saw their chance.

"Brave Bird!" Ash shouted.

Understanding what Ash had come up with, Pidgeot dived as a second power barrier formed around her. It quickly burst opened again and the power barrier changed colour in the same way it did last time. Blastoise continued to fall and was able completely unable to dance out of the way.

"Flash Canon!" Tierno shouted in a panick.

Due to him falling towards the ground, Blastoise was having trouble adjusting his canons to lock onto Pidgeot. He actually had the same idea beforehand but hearing his trainers panicked voice made him rush the job. A silvery grey beam of steel type energy shot out of both of Blastoise's canons.

This time Pidgeot didn't try to dodge the move as she is a head strong Pokemon and she didn't want to lose this attack attempt. An explosion occurred with both Pokemon being caught in the blast. It was practically impossible to make out what happened following the explosion.

It was about two minutes before the smoke created by the explosion started to clear, although no outlines of either Pokemon could be seen. Ash started to panick as he knows what Pidgeot is like, and no-doubt she would've shot back into the sky again to boast about surviving the risky move. It was closer to a third minute before the smoke was fully cleared away which revealed both Pokemon lying on the field covered in soot and scratches with swirls in their eyes.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle." The ref declared. "Ash still has one Pokemon remaining. Meaning the winner of this match, and the trainer moving onto the second round is Ash.".

* * *

After the battle we over, Ash took his two Pokemon to the Pokemon centre to be healed. The couple also made up an excuse to break apart from their friends, so they could move Ash's stuff into Serena's room before returning the key for his room.

Despite both Drake and Leaf finding out the truth, neither of the couple had the courage to inform the other one. They met up with their friends again for dinner but surprisingly Leaf didn't tease Ash with this info she now has. This is because she guessed that they didn't want to reveal it yet to anyone and she didn't want to possibly cause an argument between the couple by revealing that she knew about their secret.

With night time rolled around pretty quickly and being sure not to raise suspicion the couple left for their room. Once inside, they took it in turns to change into their nightwear in the bathroom but like this morning Serena took much longer then Ash. The raven-haired boy was a little annoyed since they aren't going out anywhere, so it shouldn't take this long but he knows it is just one of her little quirks he will need to get used to, no-doubt she has found a couple of his she doesn't like.

"There you are." Ash spoke softly with his typical toothy grin as she left the bathroom. "I thought you might've got los...".

Serena made her way over to the bed as Ash spoke, sitting next to him as he pushed him up with his elbows. She cut him off with a kiss. Ash was shocked at the gesture but was sure to quickly return it. Serena put as much love into it as possible as it lasted longer than normal but eventually the need for air was too much.

"What was that for?" Ash asked as he caught his breath.

"Hmm, let's say for doing so well in your battle earlier today." Serena giggled at her boyfriend's red face. She moved under the covers as Ash lay back down, Serena taking the opportunity to cuddle up to Ash's side, resting her head on Ash's chest.

The two were just enjoying the embrace as they attempted to fall asleep. Although the two were both surprisingly thinking about a similar thing. Ash's mind was thinking about how Drake knows about the new arrangement while Serena was thinking about how Leaf found out about it.

"Hey Serena, I need to tell you something." Ash told his girlfriend.

"I need to tell you something as well Ash." Serena replied but it was soon followed by a tired yawn. "But I am really tired, can we talk about it tomorrow instead?".

"Sure thing." Ash smiled down at her, although it was so dark she couldn't see. Ash soon yawned himself. "Good night, Serena. Love you.".

"Love you too." Serena replied sleepily as she nuzzled more into him. Soon both of them were asleep in their loving embrace.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	22. Orange League - Round II

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the second part of the Orange League. Since last time Ash found something about Serena a little annoying, it is time she found something about Ash a little annoying. It is only natural when two people moving into together (which is what that have kind of done). Ash may have had a planned strategy to counter Tierno last chapter, but that is because Tierno has a more defined strategy, Virgil doesn't have that which will obviously make things harder for Ash to plan against. We also get the battle between Ash and Virgil, plus Ash might get to get a possible location for his next adventure. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 22: Orange League - Round II_

Serena blinked awake as she took in her surroundings. Looking around slightly, she spotted Ash next to her and a warm smile grew on her face. She pushed herself up slightly, so her head was resting on his shoulder rather than his chest, so she could look at his sleeping face. He looks so cute right now. While she knows that she should be waking him up, she doesn't want this time to end.

As she enjoyed the embrace, she took a look around the room. Last night she didn't get the chance to do that because of the combination of her tiredness and it being dark. The first thing she noticed was Pikachu asleep on one of the arm chairs, but the shocking thing was Eevee had let herself out and was cuddled up next to him. Guess it is true, Pokemon take after their trainers.

Looking around the rest of the room, she noticed something off about the room. She left Ash to sort out his belongings last night as she would want to do the same with her stuff but now that she has seen the room she can see it is in a sort of mess. Ash's clothes seem to just be thrown into the wardrobe rather than being neatly placed in and his backpack seems to be slung against the room without any care. It seems like she has found something about her prince charming that she isn't too fond off.

Of course, she knew Ash's wasn't a neat freak like her, but she just wasn't ready for it. Still it is a minor complaint of all things when you consider how happy he makes her, he has even started working on his table manners since they started dating. Plus, she can only imagine Ash must've found half a dozen habits about living with her that he doesn't like.

It is still early days in this stage of their relationship, so they are going to need to make compromises. No-doubt Serena has enjoyed the last two nights and she doesn't want it to end just because Ash's less than perfect tidiness.

After around ten minutes, Serena realised that Ash began to wake up. Realising she kind of didn't do as they agreed about whoever wakes up first waking the other one up, she decided to act quickly. Pushing her lips into his. The sudden kiss was enough to make wake Ash up, and it brought a smile onto the boy's face. After about twenty-seconds, Serena withdrew to see her boyfriend with bright red cheeks. Her own cheeks had a hint of pink from her suddenness.

"Good morning." Serena smiled, ignoring her own blush.

"Morning." Ash replied with his own smile as he tried to reclaim his composure, but he was failing miserably. "Um, what was that?".

"What was what?" Serena asked with a hint of playfulness. "This?". After quickly asking the second question, she pushed her lips onto his again.

Giggling at the boyfriends shocked reaction, this kiss was swift and as Serena withdrew, her giggles turned into a proper laugh at Ash's bright red face as she snuggled into him even more. Ash sat up slightly in the bed, but Serena was quick to follow his movements and snuggled in to him even more. After a few moments of snuggling together, Serena looked at Ash expectantly, much to the red-faced boy's confusion.

"Where's my morning kiss?" Serena asked playfully. "I gave you one.".

Ash blushed even harder if possible but realised there wasn't anything wrong and that he should've been expecting it considering the playful mood she is currently having. He smiled and went to peck her cheek, but Serena acted quickly and turned her head, so he pecked her lips instead. Ash blushed even more because he wasn't expecting Serena's bold move, she's definitely not the shy girl she was before they became trainers right now.

Lucky for Ash, his stomach came to the rescue with a growl to remind them of breakfast. While Serena knew she just wanted to cuddle with him some more, she also knew she was also hungry and if they didn't show up for breakfast then Leaf would be sure to tease them.

"I'm going for a shower, Ash." Serena informed as she finally left the snuggle, stealing one last kiss before heading into the bathroom with a clean set of clothes.

Ash sighed before going to find some clean clothes for himself. He would've liked to go for a shower after Serena but it would mean they would definitely be late to meet their friends and he also has a lot to do today as not only does he have his battle with Virgil to plan for and take part in, but he also wants to have a chat with Lapras which has been needing along with a talk with Serena so that she knows Drake knows about this arrangement, along with that thing she mentioned last night.

It wasn't long before Ash was ready to leave. He woke up Togepi and then woke the two Pokemon who are snuggling on the chair, much to Pikachu's embarrassment, as they waited for Serena to get ready. Nearly forty-five minutes Serena was ready to leave, and they set off for the cafeteria.

* * *

After a cheerful breakfast with their friends, completely with Togepi causing some mischief with a cup of milk and Leaf failing once again to get any attention from Drake. Once the meal was over, Ash left with Togepi and Pikachu, so they could do a little research on Virgil for the upcoming battle.

In the computer lab, Ash had Virgil's league data up along with one of his older league battles. He has been studying the Unova native for nearly an hour, but he is starting to get annoyed. Unlike Tierno, Virgil doesn't have a set strategy he uses in every battle, so it is much harder for Ash to come. The most Ash has learnt is that Virgil tends to treat a battle like a rescue mission and all his Pokemon are incredibly well trained.

The Eevee on his shoulder also seems to not have much battle experience since it doesn't have a profile on the league website or appeared in any of the recorded battles means it hasn't been used. It is reasonable to assume that neither of the Pokemon Virgil used yesterday will battle today, but Ash is making the same decision. Virgil also has a variety of types on his team because his team is made up of all the eeveelutions.

Ash is planning to use Sandslash already because of an unfinished battle that the ground type wants to finish off. Taking him as a starting point, he is a very powerful attacking force and is has some weaknesses towards Grass, Flying and Water types. Although Sandslash isn't likely to care about any sort of type match ups.

Thinking about it, Ash does have a Pokemon who could deal with all those types in Lapras. Her ice typing can handle the grass or flying type weaknesses and being a water type herself along with the ability Water Absorb also gives her a slight advantage. In terms of battle style, Lapras uses primarily special moves and is more capable of sponging attacks similar to how Muk does. While completely different personalities, these two should prove to be a good team.

There is still one problem with this team which the final member should be able to fix. With Lapras still being quite young and Sandslash despite listening, is kind of like a loose cannon still, so the last member should be older and more controlled. Ash has two Pokemon who fulfil this role on his team, one being Aerodactyl and the other is Tauros. In the end Ash decided to go with Tauros since he has more type variety in his move set which is common among Normal types.

With his team selected, Ash released the three Pokemon to let them know. Once appearing in front of him, Sandslash made sure to have some distance from the other two Pokemon who came out with him but they all looked at Ash expectantly.

"Guys, we have an important battle against a trainer name Virgil later today." Ash informed.

Upon hearing the name, Sandslash recognised the name before growling something in a threatening tone which Ash knew he shouldn't be repeating. It is clear he remembers this being the trainer which sent him into the ocean. Despite technically leading to his healing process with Ash, Sandslash still wants to get back at that guy. Ash chuckled nervously at the ground types reaction, although it was pretty expected in all honest.

"Hehehe, I figured you'd want something like that." Ash chuckled nervously at the ground type. "Which is why I have decided to go with you three for today's battle... And don't worry, Sandslash. If Virgil uses Vaporeon again, then I will save you for him.".

The smirk on the ground types face told Ash that he is agreeing to those terms. He would've battled anyway one because he loves to battle but also because he is keeping his word about giving Ash a chance. Although since Ash was able to tell beforehand that he would want the rematch and is willing to let him have that chance despite him having a type disadvantage, this is actually quite the eye opener for the Mouse Pokemon.

"Tauros, I am counting on your experience for you to kind of lead this team." Ash told his normal type.

Tauros grunted something in response, as he has no problem with being the 'leader' for this next battle. Of course, Ash is like the strategist but despite him being really nice, he doesn't know what it is like in the heat of battle for the Pokemon, especially for a younger Pokemon like Lapras, so he will be hear for the Transport Pokemon if she is feeling nervous. While he would do the same for Sandslash, the Wild Bull highly doubts the ground type would take up the offer.

"Thank you, buddy." Ash smiled in response as he petted Tauros' snout. "Now take a good rest ready for the battle.".

Ash pulled out a Safari Ball and Pokeball before turning towards the two male Pokemon, which seemed to confuse Lapras. Why was she left out? Shouldn't she also be resting up for the battle? Ash approached the transport Pokemon with a firm but saddening expression.

"Lapras... We need to talk about something." Ash stated slowly. This concerned the water ice type greatly; did she do something wrong? "Look Lapras, there is no easy way to say this. Our time in the Orange Islands is coming to an end, I might be able to convince the others to stay in the region for another week once the league is over, but it won't be long. What I am trying to say is, we are quickly losing time in this region.".

Lapras listened to her trainer and hung off his every word. At first, she was trying to figure out why he was looking so sad but as he continued Lapras figured out what Ash was trying to say, time is quickly running out not only in this region but also the time to find her family.

"I know I promised to help you find them Lapras, but we have been almost all over this region." Ash continued. "Of course, we will keep searching for them why we are here Lapras, but you should start considering what it is you want to do. If you want to, when it is time to leave I will let you back into the wild, so you can continue the search yourself, or you could join the team as a full member. This is completely your choice and I will follow it regardless of what you choose.".

Lapras looked at the ground with a sad expression. Deep down she knew she would need to make this decision at some point, she would've loved for things to continue with how they are, but it wouldn't be fair on Ash or his friends. Taking a deep breath, she decided to tell Ash what she considers the best option.

"Ash..." Lapras started slowly. "I want to keep looking for mama and papa, but I know that I can't ask you to stay with me. So, if we haven't found them by the time you need to leave, then could I join the team, please?".

"Of course, you can, Lapras. But are you sure this is what you want?" Ash told the water ice type as he comforted her with a hug. "I will need to put you into rotation along with the rest of the team. I will still bring you along from time to time, but it wouldn't be fair on the others, you know, that right?".

Lapras leaned her head into the hug, it was really comforting her. As sad as it might seem since she likely won't find her biological family, she can still be happy in her new family. Despite trying not to, she does see some of the members of Ash's team as her new family, Gyarados is kind of like her father of the group and Dragonair is like her new mother, while the princess can seem a little off when you first meet her, Dragonair is quite caring even taking time to teach Lapras Ice Beam.

"Well Lapras, it is getting late." Ash told the Transport Pokemon. "We have a battle to take part and since there is still the chance that we run into your family, I don't want to miss what could be our last battle together after all.".

Lapras smiled as she realised Ash really wasn't giving up on finding her family, he just wanted her to realise their time to possibly find them is running short, he has given her the two options and complete authority over what will happen if they don't find her family. In all honesty, it felt really good to have responsibility since she was always the baby of the group. While she would like to say she could keep searching on her own, she has already lost one family, she doesn't want to lose another.

Now that the important chat with Lapras is over, Ash returned the water ice type, so she could get a good rest ready for the battle against Virgil. Picking Togepi up as Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder, the raven-haired boy walked off towards the stadium for today's battle.

* * *

Once reaching the stadium, Ash spotted Serena standing outside. She wished him luck with a peck on the cheek and took Togepi before heading off to the spectator's box where their friends are waiting. It may seem obvious, but Serena still seems to be in her playful mood. Ash went inside the stadium to the same place as yesterday, so he is ready to be called out for his battle. Soon he was in place.

"Welcome ladies, gentleman, children and Pokemon of all species." The announce spoke through the microphone as the crowd cheered. Ash is in a locker room on his own except for Pikachu, waiting for his cue to go onto the field. Togepi is in the spectator's box along with Seren-A and the others. "It is time to meet the two trainers who are battling today for the chance to move on to tomorrows champion battle. It's Ash Ketchum on the left and Virgil Ranger on the right.".

Walking out into the field, Ash was on one side and Virgil was on the other, each taking their position in the trainer's box as a referee appeared on the ref's stand, which caused the crowd to cheer, drawing the groups attention. It was time for the battle of the Orange League which would decide who would get to battle the champion of the exclusive league, Drake.

"This will be a three on three battle between Ash and Virgil to see who will move onto the champion battle tomorrow." The ref declared. "Both sides can make substitutions at any point and there is no time limit. Ash shall reveal his Pokemon first.".

"I choose you, Tauros!" Ash shouted as the Normal type appeared on the field in front of him.

With his opponent now in front of him, Virgil quickly selected his Pokemon. While he doesn't have a Pokemon with a type advantage and he doesn't want to use either Pokemon he used yesterday so they can rest. Still knowing Tauros mainly focus on attacking head on, he has the perfect Pokemon to help take away that fighting style. While it may seem like a weird decision right now, but Virgil has a plan for this battle.

"You're up, Flareon!" Virgil shouted as he threw his Pokeball up into the air.

In a flash of light, the fire type eeveelution appeared in front of Virgil on the battlefield. Virgil caught the Pokeball before putting it away as Flareon took up a battle stance. Ash was pretty happy with the match up because even though normal isn't strong against fire, Tauros knows a few ground types moves which could prove a surprise and be a slight advantage but Ash knows Virgil is strong. Taking his Pokedex out, Ash scanned the fire type eeveelution:

 _Flareon, The Flame Pokemon. A final evolved form of Eevee. Flareon's fluffy fur has a functional purpose-it releases heat into the air so that its body does not get excessively hot. This Pokémon's body temperature can rise to a maximum of 1,605 degrees Fahrenheit._

"Tauros VS Flareon..." The ref raised his flags. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Ash VS Virgil (P. I):_

"Quick Attack." Virgil instructed.

Flareon shot off from his spot towards Tauros. Ash knew Tauros was smart enough to know what to do in this situation, being one of Ash's older and more experienced Pokemon. Speaking off, Tauros stood his ground and didn't even attempt to dodge the incoming attack.

The fire type eeveelution crashed into Tauros' head and came to a complete stop. Tauros grunted before charging forward with Flareon now in his clutches as he used a Take Down attack. Flareon was smashed into the wall as Tauros took a little recoil damage, returning to his original spot.

It may seem a little weird that Virgil would make a move like that, but Virgil had good reason. He wanted to test what sort of Pokemon Tauros is, that move showed he is an experienced battler since Ash didn't give him direction and prefers to take attacks head on rather than dodge. That might seem like a common trait among Tauros as a species but a majority of Ash's Pokemon prefer to dodge and it isn't uncommon for a trainer's style to affect individual Pokemon on their team.

"Awesome Tauros, keep up the pressure with Horn Attack!" Ash hollered with excitement.

Tauros let out a mighty battle moo while scrapping his hove on the ground before charging at Flareon who was pushing himself off the ground. Virgil smirked, while Flareon is experienced enough to dodge, he has a plan to put Tauros at a bigger advantage.

"Flame Charge." Virgil instructed.

Flareon burst into flames before he shot from his position and out of Tauros' view. While Tauros is an incredibly powerful Pokemon and is able to reach a decent speed when charging, he isn't able to make any sharp turns or quickly change direction.

The Wild Bull Pokemon was able to bring himself to a stop once Flareon had disappeared to avoid crashing head first into a wall which could easily cause him to become dazed. Seeing as Tauros is now at a complete stop, Flareon slammed into his side before running off at a high speed. It didn't cause much damage to the normal type but that wasn't Virgil's intentions. Flareon knew what his trainer was planning and was happy to follow the strategy.

Flareon activated another Flame Charge as Tauros looked around for another the fire type eeveelution. Although the Flame Pokemon had seemed to disappear as the Wild Bull Pokemon couldn't see him, soon Flareon crashed into the normal types side again but he ran off again before Tauros could react. This was making Tauros angry, despite being an older Pokemon he does have a short temper which his species is famous for. Ash knew he had to do something before they lost this battle.

"Stay calm, Tauros and use Earthquake!" Ash shouted.

Tauros listened to his trainer's voice and took a deep breath to sooth his rage, it may seem weird but learning to control his anger is one of the things he has learnt to do since Ash caught him. With the anger no-longer building up, Tauros lifted his front hove's into the air before slamming them down on the ground. This was enough to shake the entire stadium, which is just a show of Flareon's inner power.

"And Tauros comes back with a powerful Earthquake attack which shakes the entire stadium up." The announcers in formed. "How will Virgil and Flareon handle this powerful attack? Or has this battle become a natural disaster for them?".

Despite him being much faster after the series of Flame Charges, due to the range of the Earthquake, it was impossible for Flareon to dodge it. The Flame Pokemon did attempt to dodge it by jumping in the air but due to the Earthquake's lasting power and Flareon not being able to naturally fly, he had to land fairly quickly, almost instantly losing his balance from the powerful ground type move. Flareon ended up falling on his side, unable to stand as he took some major damage.

"To your left, Tauros!" Ash informed as he attempted to shout over the commotion of the Earthquake.

A quick glance in that direction showed the Fire type eeveelution lying on the floor, unable to get up thanks to the Earthquake. Although both Ash and Tauros knows that it won't be able to last long because eventually Tauros will tire of using the move constantly or Virgil will think of a counter attack or Flareon will adapt to the shaky environment. Considering it is a part of a rescue team, it isn't out of the realm of possibility after all.

Tauros turned on the spot as he stopped keeping the Earthquake activated and instead started charging at the downed fire type. As he closed in, he swooped his head down, picking Flareon up with his horns he started to charge towards the wall, using a Take Down attack, with Flareon unable to escaping him. While the speed boosts Flareon previously received didn't help him avoid the Wild Bull Pokemon considering the powerful Earthquake he became subject to.

Like before, Ash knows Tauros knows what to do right now, he just needed Flareon's position pointing out to him because he was focused on keeping the Earthquake activated. Ash only told him to use Earthquake before because battling when angry only leads to mistakes being made.

"Fire Fang!" Virgil called out.

While it might seem improbably considering that Flareon just took a powerful Earthquake attack and is currently being forced along at a high speed, you have to remember that Flareon is a part of a rescue team, so he is using to work under pressure or when injured.

The fire type eeveelution was able to open her mouth as the teeth burst into flames. He bites down hard on one of Tauros' horns as hard as he could. Although he grunted from the attack, it wasn't nearly enough to bring Tauros to a stop. The Wild Bull Pokemon slammed into the wall, taking a little recoil as Flareon took the main blow.

Returning to his original spot, Flareon slumped onto the ground. The ref looked closely at the fire type, but he isn't a part of a rescue team for anything and after a couple of moments, started to push himself back up, although was clearly in pain. Tauros, on the other hand, wasn't even showing signs of pain from the recoil damage he just took. Although the worst possible thing that could've happened did, he burst into flames as a sign that he was burnt.

"Return for now, Tauros." Ash quickly recalled his normal type.

* * *

"And Ash makes a safe move by recalling his Tauros once the burn condition had been revealed." The announcer informed. "How will this affect the rest of the battle? Will it give Ash the chance to take the lead with a fresh start or will Ash revealing two Pokemon just lead to Virgil winning this battle?".

Ash smiled sadly at the Safari Ball which now contains his burnt Tauros. It may seem like a rash decision considering it was the moment the status condition revealed itself, but the burn not only causes damage to Tauros over time but also halves the normal types attacking power, which makes the result of the first round more likely to be a tie rather than his victory. Ash isn't ready to lose the normal type as he is the most experienced battler out of the three Pokemon he has decided to use.

Ash saw Flareon move back to his starting position, but he was clearly on his last legs. It also seems like Virgil isn't recalling him but that isn't a real surprise either since in the league battles Ash looked up on the league data base, Virgil never swapped Pokemon. Guess he just prefers letting them stay in, there is nothing wrong with that style in the long run. Making his mind up, Ash grabbed a Pokeball off his belt and launched it in the air.

"I choose you, Lapras!" Ash shouted as the transport Pokemon appeared on the field in a flash of light.

Landing in a similar starting position on the field where Tauros started, Lapras had a jolly smile on her face as she is excited to take part in her first league battle, but she soon caught herself and replaced it with a serious expression. Virgil smirked at his opponent.

He knew Ash had a Lapras from their meeting earlier on in the adventure, but he has never seen it battle because it wasn't on the league database. He is happy to keep Flareon out as he has done his job against Tauros and is in a perfect position to test Lapras, he isn't expecting to beat the Transport Pokemon with his fire type eeveelution, he just wants to test its capability.

"It seems Virgil is sticking with his Flareon for this second-round despite being at a disadvantage against Ash's Lapras type wise." The announcer informed. "Is he just that confident in the fire type, or does he have something else planned?".

"Lapras VS Flareon..." The ref raised his flags. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Ash VS Virgil (P. II):_

"Water Pulse." Ash instructed.

Seeing as she is still quite young, Ash will need to give Lapras more direction then he did for Tauros. Lapras let out an elegant battle cry, not quite as loud as some of Ash's other Pokemon but still impressive for a young Pokemon. A sphere of water formed at her mouth, spinning her head around, the Water Pulse was sent flying.

Flareon, on the other hand, doesn't need nearly as many instructions. As the Water Pulse closed in on him, he jumped out of the way still with his improved speed from the previous Flame Charges, although due to the onslaught of attacks from Tauros, he was no longer quite as fast.

Acting off his own accorded, Flareon shot forward to use a Tackle attack. While one of his weaker moves, Flareon chose it as not only is it an easy move for him to use after the tiring battle with Tauros but he only has one move which is considered super effective against Lapras in terms of type and he will wait for his trainer before revealing that trump card. He isn't an idiot, he knows he isn't meant to win, he is meant to expose Lapras' battle style right now.

"Use your body to take the hit, then use Body Slam." Ash instructed.

Since she has a body build similar to Muk and Snorlax, as in being quite squidgy, Ash is planning on using it as a defence. Obviously being so young she is scared of taking the attack head on, but she trusts Ash. Flinching slightly as Flareon Tackled into her slightly exposed stomach. To Lapras' amazement, it didn't actually hurt like she would've expected. Acting on Ash's second instruction, Lapras slowly flipped forward and crushed Flareon under her.

In all honesty, Flareon could've easily dodged it considering Lapras is out of her element and not the fastest Pokemon anyway but he wanted to take the hit so his trainer would see what sort of strength Lapras has, although he knows Virgil will scold him later for it especially after the onslaught of attacks he was subject to thanks to the battle with Tauros but it is just a part of how Flareon is, always acting on rash impulses. It may be ironic but Flareon has a personality like Ash.

Virgil wasn't happy that Flareon pulled that stunt, he knows perfectly well that he was fast enough to avoid the Body Slam and has the experienced to dodge the move without being told. While he is using Flareon to test Lapras' battle abilities, he wouldn't want anyone to take an attack they could avoid especially since Flareon is still hurting from his previous battle. Looks like he is going to need to bring up the pressure not just to observe Lapras but also to get Flareon in line.

"Smog." Virgil instructed with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Flareon inwardly sweat dropped as he knew he would be getting a scolding after the match and that he would be receiving more directions in this match to make sure he didn't take any more reckless moves. Instead of struggling to escape from underneath Lapras, Flareon opened her mouth and released a purple toxic smoke cloud.

Ash knew he couldn't waist time as Lapras is very close to the attack. Luckily, he remembers a battle Misty had about half way through their adventure which had a similar situation. He is confident that Lapras can pull this move off.

"Move back and use Freeze-Dry!" Ash shouted.

Lapras got of the fire type eeveelution, slowly moving back to try and avoid the Smog cloud which is growing. Although due to her lack of mobility on dry land, she was never going to get out of the attack range. Using the little time, she brought by moving back, Lapras took a deep breath before breathing out a sort of icy wind with ice crystals visible on her breath.

The Freeze-Dry struck the Smog cloud and something interesting seemed to happen. The ice crystals from Lapras' attack collected around the outside of the Smog cloud and the poisonous cloud also stopped expanding, it was like the cloud was being conducted by the ice type move. With Flareon at the centre of it.

"Flare Blitz!" Virgil shouted in a panick.

This is clearly a very dangerous move because of Flareon's current position but soon the ice will be creating a wall with both the Smog attack and Flareon being stuck on the inside. In the blink of an eye, a flame appeared at the centre of the Smog for a split-second.

Although that was enough to ignite the toxins within the cloud, which caused it to explode. Both Pokemon were in clear range of the blast, Lapras being pushed backwards as she took a lot of damage while Flareon wasn't seen. Black smoke covered the field as Lapras came to a stop in front of Ash, she was still up but Ash went over to check on her. After about a minute, the black smoke faded to reveal Flareon at the centre with swirls in his eyes.

"Flareon is unable to battle, this round goes to Ash and his Lapras." The ref declared before turning towards Virgil. "Please select your second Pokemon.".

* * *

"Despite needing two of his three Pokemon to do it, Ash has taken the lead in this battle by defeating Flareon with all three of his Pokemon still standing." The announcer informed. "But with both his Lapras and Tauros being tired, how will he handle Virgil's two fresh Pokemon?".

Virgil frowned as he silently returned his fallen Flareon. While he never expected him to beat Lapras, what he did was reckless and ultimately lead to his defeat. While he did set up the explosion, he could only work in the situation Flareon put himself in. He wants to congratulate the fire type on the job he did against both of the Pokemon he battled but at the same time he can't congratulate recklessness and any sort of praise right now would send a mixed message to the fire type.

"Hey Lapras, are you alright?" Ash asked the transport Pokemon, who just took an explosion in the face.

"Um, yeah. I think so." Lapras replied still shaken up. Not surprising, it's not every day a battle ends in an explosion which would be scary for many Pokemon let alone one who is still an infant. If she doesn't feel capable of continuing after that, of course Ash would understand.

"You're up, Jolteon!" Virgil shouted as he threw his Pokeball up into the air.

In a flash of light, the electric type eeveelution appeared in front of Virgil on the battlefield. Virgil caught the Pokeball before putting it away as Jolteon took up a battle stance. Since his brother has a Jolteon, he knows how they battle quite well and while he doubts Lapras could beat it, he does believe Lapras would be useful in taking away its biggest advantage but that is up to the water ice type after that explosion.

"Lapras, I am not going to lie to you. I don't think you can beat Jolteon." Ash told his Transport Pokemon. "But I do have a plan, and you would be key in making it so Tauros is capable of beating it. I will completely understand if you don't want to after the last battle, so the decision is completely yours.".

Lapras looked at the opponent on the other side of the battle field. The battle field is still mostly in tact after that explosion although bits of rubble with a few cracks have appeared. While not happy about fighting in a losing battle, she is happy about being given the choice and like Ash said before, this could be their last battle together, she doesn't want to possibly cause Ash to lose the battle simply because she was scared. With a look of determination, she nodded her head and took up a battle stance. Ash smiled and returned to the trainer's box before taking his Pokedex out, scanning the electric type eeveelution:

 _Jolteon, The Lightening Pokemon. A final evolved form of Eevee. Jolteon's cells generate a low level of electricity. This power is amplified by the static electricity of its fur, enabling the Pokémon to drop thunderbolts. The bristling fur is made of electrically charged needles._

"It seems like Ash is sticking with his Lapras despite Virgil taking the advantage with his Jolteon." The announcer informed among the cheering crowd. "What could the raven-haired boy be planning with this match up?".

"Lapras VS Jolteon..." The ref declared. "Begin.".

* * *

 _Ash VS Virgil (P. III):_

To start the battle off right, Jolteon began to run around the field as he didn't want to give his opponent the chance to lock onto him. Despite being at the type advantage, Jolteon is a very serious Pokemon and never takes any sort of chance in a battle unlike the fire type before him. Ash smiled as he saw his chance.

"Use Ice Beam, Lapras." Ash instructed. "Don't worry about Jolteon, use it on the field.".

Lapras let out an elegant battle cry as a ball of ice formed at her mouth. She isn't sure what Ash is planning but she trusts him. A beam of ice shot out of the ice ball in front of Lapras'. Directing the beam around all sides of the field, the battlefield was quickly turning into an ice-ring.

Jolteon could see this field turning into quite a challenge for him as it the same with anyone who tries to run on ice, they end up falling over due to the slippery surface. Acting on instinct, he launched a powerful Thunderbolt at Lapras in hopes of stopping her before she transforms the whole field.

"Psychic on the Thunderbolt and dodge it!" Ash shouted in a panick.

Not being able to hold two moves at the same time yet due to her young age, Lapras had to cancel her Ice Beam although most of her job was done now. Her eyes glew light blue as Psychic type energy formed around the Thunderbolt. She was able to change its direction slightly, so it flew behind her, but she still hasn't mastered the Psychic move and it quickly came to an end.

Jolteon didn't get the chance to redirect his electric attack as his foot hit the icy floor. Sliding on the slippery surface, he fell over as his Thunderbolt attack had to come to an end as a result. Ash smiled as he saw his plan work, he just took away Jolteon's speed, his greatest advantage in battle.

"Keep up the pressure, Lapras and use Confuse Ray." Ash instructed.

It might seem weird that Ash is keeping Lapras in despite her completing her role in his plan to handle Jolteon, but she is really trying her best and was willing to risk a painful defeat to help in this round. If he was to return her now, it might make her think he doesn't trust her with the responsibility he just gave her.

Being one of her best moves, Lapras fired off a ball of ghost type energy towards Jolteon who was stood up on the ice but was shaking. This is one of her best-known moves because it is one of few moves she knew thanks to her father, he thought she could use it to confuse a predator to give her chance to escape. While some might think it is weird he didn't teach his daughter any damaging moves to protect herself, that is because he didn't want to encourage her to battle.

"Discharge!" Virgil shouted.

Jolteon is one of his best battlers and in the past has won entire battles without needing to give him any instructions but even he isn't perfect, no-one is. Jolteon shot out a powerful wave of electricity in all direction and neither Ash or Lapras were quick enough to counter before the Transport Pokemon was stuck by the powerful attack.

Ash panicked as he looked around to try and find a counter, but it was no use. Lapras isn't built for speed or dodging attacks. While she could slide on the ice as a way to be even more mobile, it wouldn't avoid Discharge as this attack spreads out in all directions. With no other choice, Ash pulled out her Pokeball and attempted to return the water ice type, but the electricity intercepted the red return beam, blocking it from working. Lapras cried out in pain from the attack.

"Please stop!" Ash shouted with no other choice left.

Just like that, Jolteon brought his electric attack to an end but Ash knew what this meant. Jolteon had no reason to stop the attack which meant Lapras would've fallen. While she is still conscious, she is barely still standing which isn't surprising when you combine the explosion and Discharge she took head on. Even though she is still conscious, the ref has no choice but to make his next call.

"Lapras has been classed unable to battle by his trainer, this round goes to Virgil and his Jolteon." The ref declared before turning towards Ash. "Please select your second Pokemon.".

* * *

Ash walked out onto the field to check on his Lapras, for most of his Pokemon he would be happy to return them and let them rest until the battle is over but Lapras just took a lot and is quite young, so he just wants to make sure she is fine. By the looks of her, she is very weak on the verge of fainting with a sad expression.

"How ya feeling, Lapras?" Ash asked as he stood in front of the transport Pokemon.

Instead of straight up replying to him, she began to cry and nuzzled her head into his stomach. That was the scariest battle she has ever had, so far, any battles she partook in were with Ash's friends but considering the difference between them and this one, she wouldn't be surprised if they were going easy on her. Ash frowned at her reaction and attempted to comfort her. He thought this battle would be a good way to show her how far she come, but it might've scared her instead.

"Don't worry, Lapras. It's all over now." Ash soothed as he petted her head. A lot of the crowd awed at the loving scene, this is proof enough that the right trainer was given the chance to compete in the Orange League since it is all about the bond between Pokemon and trainer. "Everything will be okay.".

Lapras was shocked as she expected Ash would at least be annoyed that she just lost but was only caring about her. Guess she was still believing a couple of the horror stories her mother told her about people, but she can safely say Ash has proved all of those stories to be wrong after their time together.

"Why don't you take a good rest now Lapras, you deserve it." Ash smiled at the Transport Pokemon.

Lapras responded by licking his cheek as a small sign off affection, it seems like she has picked up a small trait from the Pokemon she sees as a father figure on the team. Ash laughed at the gesture before recalling her to the Pokeball. Once she was safe inside, a flame of determination appeared in his eye. Now he is certain he is going to win this battle, he isn't going to let Lapras down after she not only took on an explosion to her face but even faced a losing battle to set up the field for him.

As he walked back to the trainer's box, Ash swapped the Pokeball containing Lapras for the Safari Ball on his belt. Once in his trainer's box, he launched the Safari Ball into the air. Virgil knew this would be a much tougher battle now simply by the look in Ash's eye. "I choose you, Tauros!".

The normal type appeared on the icy field. At first his hove slipped on the surface, but he quickly recovered and stood his ground. While he was ready for another battle, he isn't so sure about the current field. He really hopes Ash has thought this through.

"Tauros VS Jolteon..." The ref declared. "Begin.".

* * *

 _Ash VS Virgil (P. IV):_

"You know Ash, this might not be your smartest move." Virgil told his opponent. "It seems both Jolteon and Tauros are having their individual battle styles being stopped by this field, but the difference is, Jolteon specialises in long ranged attacks, Tauros doesn't.".

Ash inwardly smirked, he can remember a number of battles he lost because he got over confident which is part of the reason he put himself in this disadvantage although it seems Virgil might've over looked Ash's counter for that supposed advantage Jolteon has.

As if on cue, Jolteon launched a Thunderbolt towards the stationary normal type. Tauros tensed up as he prepared to take the attack. He always prefers to take attacks head on and the ice field is making it, so he couldn't move out of the way even if he wanted to. Although Ash had another idea.

"Keep standing where you are, Tauros and power up a Wild Charge." Ash instructed.

Tauros let out a battle moo as his body was coated in electricity. A moment later the incoming Thunderbolt struck the Wild Bull but didn't seem to have an effect, the Wild Charge was acting as a protective barrier. While this attack normally causes recoil damage, since he isn't impacting anything, Tauros isn't being injured either.

Although as a result of him being on ice, Tauros was being blown backwards. Acting on his own instincts, Tauros raised his two front legs in the air before slamming them down to use another Earthquake. This caused the sheet of ice covering the battlefield to shatter into a smashed ice, also causing Jolteon to cancel the electric move as he took damage from the ground type move.

After a few moments, Tauros burst into flames once again as he took burn damage. This was enough to make him cancel the Earthquake. Soon the flames disappeared again but Jolteon was pushing himself up. Ash knew he needed a powerful move and has just the one.

"Facade!" Ash hollered.

Tauros started charging forward, the sheer force being enough to shatter any ice that appeared in his path. It might seem like he should've been slipping over but that was avoided because the ice is no-longer a complete sheet meaning Tauros is strong enough to force his way through it. If he was a smaller Pokemon then this would be a lot more difficult because a lot of Tauros' ease with this comes from his physical strength. Jolteon couldn't do this due to his lack of physical strength.

As he was running towards him, Jolteon launched a series of Pin Missiles into the air. They created an arch over the battle field as some landed on Tauros but due to him currently charging, just as many hit the field around him. Grunting in pain, it wasn't enough to bring the Wild Bull Pokemon to a stop.

Once he reached the trapped electric type eeveelution, he swung his head down and grabbed Jolteon in his horns. This jarring movement brought a stop to any sort of counter attack from Jolteon. Tauros charged into a wall as he used Facade on the Lightening Pokemon. The collision caused Jolteon to cry out in pain as Tauros let it fall onto the ground. Tauros looked proud at his victory but was soon suffering from another burn, making him fall down also with swirls in his eyes.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle." The ref declared. "Since Ash selected his Pokemon first at the beginning of the match, Virgil shall reveal his final Pokemon first.".

* * *

"Return Tauros and good job." Ash recalled his fallen normal type before placing the Safari Ball on his belt. Normally he would select the last Pokeball to show his last Pokemon at this point but if Virgil doesn't go with Vaporeon then he might change his mind on using Sandslash, plus the ref said Virgil has to choose first.

Virgil also recalled his fallen electric type with a word of thanks for it. His hand hovered over his remaining Pokeballs, as if he was having second thoughts on his choice. He wanted to have a certain match up if he ended up battling Ash, but he can't be sure that Ash will want the same showdown... Still he has to try.

"Hey Ash, since our battle earlier on when we were collecting the badges came to an undecided end. I was hoping we could finish it now." Virgil told his opponent with a smirk on his face. He launched the Pokeball up into the air. "You're up, Vaporeon!".

In a flash of light, the water type eeveelution appeared on the battlefield which was covered shattered ice. The water type took up a battle stance. Ash smiled as he would get the chance to finish off their previous battle. Even though he has spent a lot of time with Misty's Vaporeon, he still scanned it with his Pokedex:

 _Vaporeon, The Bubble Jet Pokemon. A final evolved form of Eevee. Vaporeon underwent a spontaneous mutation and grew fins and gills that allow it to live underwater. This Pokémon has the ability to freely control water._

"I choose you, Sandslash!" Ash shouted as he launched his Pokeball into the air.

In a flash of light, the ground type appeared on the battlefield. Upon his eyes landing on the Pokemon which made him take a swim in the ocean all that time ago, not happy to see the water type smirking he growled threateningly but didn't rush in for an attack.

"Sandslash VS Vaporeon..." The ref declared. "Begin.".

* * *

 _Ash VS Virgil (P. V):_

Vaporeon started off the battle by quickly forming a sphere of water at his mouth. He used Water Pulse. The Ball of water shot forward mere seconds after the battle started, like a bullet on a direct path to collide with Sandslash.

"Rapid Spin!" Ash shouted.

Ash always seems to have a natural talent for controlling the battlefield or environment and this time is no different. Despite preferring a head on assault, Sandslash began to spin on the spot. He is an experienced battler, but Ash will still need to give him a bunch of commands as he isn't good at restraining himself and it is also a good way to build up the bond between trainer and Pokemon, which is something Ash desperately wants to do with the ground type.

Sandslash's spinning caused the loose shards of ice around him to fly off in all directions. It actually seemed like something you'd expect to see in a contest, a nice surprise from the usually brutal Pokemon. One shard of ice shot through the incoming Water Pulse, causing it to implode.

Unfortunately, the Water Pulse was quite close to Sandslash and the water which built up ended up soaking Sandslash through, just like he took a bath. That seemed to be a big mistake as Sandslash soon began lashing out in anger.

"Um, you probably shouldn't have done that Virgil." Ash sweat dropped as Sandslash charged towards the water type eeveelution. "Sandslash doesn't like water, it tends to make him angry.".

"Is there anything which doesn't make him angry?" Virgil asked with a sweat drop.

"I haven't found anything yet." Ash admitted.

Talking time was over as Sandslash finally reached the water type eeveelution. He began to slice his claws in all directions as he attempted to land a devastating Slash on his opponent. Fortunately, Vaporeon has fast reflexes and was able to dodge Sandslash's onslaught of attacks but that didn't deter the angry Pokemon.

Vaporeon was able to dodge the attack by moving backwards but Sandslash continued to go after him. It was quickly turning into a battle of wills, which would give in first the angry ground type or the member of a Pokemon rescue squad. Ash wasn't about to find out, after seeing the glint in Sandslash's eye.

"Sandslash take a deep breath." Ash instructed in a serious tone.

Other than training, Ash has also been helping the ground type with his anger issues. It has become obvious that for him to completely overcome his issues, he will need to talk it out with the person he hates most of all, Lance. Since Ash doesn't have the means to call up a member of Kanto's elite four, who also happens to be a member of the Pokemon G-Men, he decided it was more important to work on away for Sandslash to handle his anger.

The ground heard the brats... His trainers, voice break through his hearing, he has almost gone a full week without a going on a rampage attack like this, a new personal record since he was sentenced to the wild by that cape wearing weirdo. He brought his assault to a stop, taking a deep breath through his nose and releasing it through his mouth. This seemed to do the trick as he no-longer felt the need to draw blood from the Bubble Jet Pokemon.

Although neither Virgil or Vaporeon were going to give Ash and Sandslash to collect themselves. Vaporeon jumped over the ground as his tail was coated in water, swinging it over her head, it was ready to crash down on Sandslash.

"Move back!" Ash shouted in a panick.

Sandslash didn't know what the brat was panicked about but he listened and jumped back, barely dodging the incoming Aqua Tail. Neither Sandslash or Vaporeon aren't very fast and move around at a similar speed. Sandslash growled at the surprise sneak attack.

Before Ash or Sandslash could launch a counter attack, Vaporeon landed directly in front of Sandslash and opened his mouth. A ball of ice formed at his mouth before an Ice Beam shot out towards Sandslash. The ground type wasn't ready to be frozen again, he coated his claws in metal and used them to block the Ice Beam.

"Trap him with Sand Tomb!" Ash shouted.

As the Metal Claw continued to block the Ice Beam, his eyes became clouded. A vortex of sand appeared around Vaporeon, trapping the water type eeveelution as he was forced to cancel the ice type move. Vaporeon began to struggle as Sandslash waited for the command to go all out on his prey... Err, opponent.

"Calm down, Vaporeon and use Aqua Ring." Virgil informed.

Vaporeon stopped struggling against the Sand Tomb and closed his eyes. A ball of water formed around Vaporeon and it turned the sand around him into a sort of sludgy wet sand mess. Although it did the job of freeing him, so Ash knew he had to act fast.

"Furry Cutter!" Ash shouted.

With a smirk on his face, Sandslash charged at Vaporeon who was still attempting to get out of the sludgy sand he helped create. Due to Vaporeon's current predicament, he didn't see Sandslash attacking and thus didn't avoid the Furry Cutter.

Once the first bug type move landed, Sandslash acted quickly by delivering a second Furry Cutter with his other claw. Sandslash continued this assault and due to the nature of a Furry Cutter attack, each blow grew in power. Vaporeon would've launched a counter attack but most of attacks hit his head meaning he couldn't think straight.

A ball of water surrounded Vaporeon as the Aqua Ring attempted to heal the damage Sandslash was causing but he wasn't going to lose the victory now that it is in his grasp. Drawing a claw back, it glew purple before Sandslash used it to deliver an upper cut, sending the water type eeveelution flying. Sandslash had used Poison Jab. Vaporeon landed in the sludgy sand with swirls in his eyes, it seems to onslaught of attacks was too much for him.

"Vaporeon is unable to battle." The ref declared raised his flag on Ash's side. "The victor of this battle is Ash Ketchum, who is moving onto the champion battle.".

* * *

With the battle over, Ash took off to the Pokemon Centre so his three Pokemon could all receive proper treatment. As he walked between the centre and the stadium, he noticed a lot of people would stop and look at him, a couple even wanted their picture taken, guess the challenger who faces the Orange League Champion is kind of like a celebrity. Once he left the three at the Pokemon centre, evening was rolling in, so he decided to take a walk back to think some things over.

As he was walking along the path next to a beach, not as many people were around so it was more peaceful. As he walked along with only Pikachu on his shoulder since Togepi was still with the others, they noticed someone walking towards them, it was Harrison.

"Hey Harrison." Ash smiled as he greeted the older trainer.

"Hey Ash." Harrison replied with a sadder smile. "Congratulations on your victory earlier today.".

"Thanks, Harrison." Ash smiled. "But I feel kind of bad that no-one will get the chance to challenge Drake.".

"It's okay, Ash. You've earnt the right to challenge Drake." Harrison informed. "It just means we weren't ready to face him, myself included. And we still have the four badges to show for our work here.".

"Well that was a great battle you had yesterday, I bet Hoenn has a bunch of cool Pokemon like your Kecleon." Ash praised. "I wouldn't mind checking it out one day.".

"Oh, it does." Harrison smiled. "You should definitely check it out again sometime.".

"I think I'll take you up on that one day. I've never been to Hoenn before, so I bet it will be a great place to travel too." Ash replied before he switched topics. "So, what are your plans now, Harrison?".

"I am gonna go home first but I think I'll go Johto to compete in their regional league next." Harrison informed. "The Silver Conference is meant to be one tough league to compete it.".

"That sounds cool, I've never been to Johto either so if my friends and I decide to travel there next, we might run into each other again." Ash informed.

"Maybe so." Harrison smiled before he added. "Just watch out, after losing this time I will be more than ready to win next time. You owe me a battle since we couldn't battle this time around.".

"Count on it." Ash smiled with determination and excitement. "I'll take you on anytime, Harrison.".

"Sounds good." Harrison smiled. "Well I'll be seeing ya, it was time I should be off. Good luck against Drake.".

With that Harrison walked away, Ash smiled as he watched the new friend / rival disappear. He was concerned about where they would go next, after the Indigo league they didn't know where to go and Ash just didn't want to spend a long time deciding where they should go because Serena deserves the chance to compete in a Grand Festival after all the training she has done over this time in the Orange Archipelago. With two possible options available for them, Ash continued his walk.

* * *

As Ash continued his walk back, in a brighter mood now that he has a couple of options available for their next journey. Of course, he would need to run them past Serena and Misty since it is just as much their options as it is his.

On their way to the Hotel where his friends were waiting for his, the trainer and Pokemon passed by the stadium. Unlike all the other times when at the stadium, now it is completely empty except for a few cleaners. Ash decided to make a detour and walk out onto the battlefield which looks as good as new compared to the mess it was after Ash's battle with Virgil.

Ash made his way behind the ref's box to something he hadn't noticed on the battlefield before. It was a statue of a Dragonite. The statue was quite big but not exactly life size. It may seem weird that Ash never noticed it before but in his defence, he was always pre-occupied with a battle or cheering crowd.

"So, this will be where we battle tomorrow..." Ash sighed as he looked at the statue. "Which also means we will be facing Drake's Dragonite.".

Ash has already done some research on Drake's team, but it didn't do much use. According to the league database, Drake has around fifty different Pokemon and the only Pokemon he uses in every battle is his Dragonite. In short, it is next to impossible to guess who Drake will end up using other than his Dragonite.

"We can still beat him." Pikachu spoke up with enthusiasm and determination.

"Thanks buddy..." Ash smiled at his starter. "I think the team we've put together can do it, too.".

Little did Ash know, he wasn't the only one in the stadium at this moment. Up in one of the spectator's boxes stood Drake with his Dragonite. He always comes into the stadium before a champions match, but he has never seen his challenger come in here at the same time.

In all honesty, he is a little surprised by this challenger, Ash is by far the youngest person to make it this far but also takes the bond between trainer and Pokemon to a whole different level. The bond between partners is exactly what this league is about and as a result, he isn't as confident about the upcoming battle for him.

* * *

Later that night, after dinner, Ash and Serena are lay-down in bed. Pikachu is already asleep on the chair, while snuggled up against Serena's Eevee. Speaking off, Serena is still in her playful mood and keeps pecking Ash's lips when he tries to speak. She is just having a bit of fun with him.

"Hey Serena..." Ash was cut off by another peck. Since it was only a quick one, followed by a giggling Serena, he was able to continue what he was saying. "We never got to have the chat we were going to have last night.".

Serena sighed as she realised he was right. In all honesty, Serena was partly hoping they could go without this chat. She was the one who suggested they keep it secret after all and she was the one to reveal it to Leaf. This is going to be embarrassing to admit. Not able to look Ash in the face because of pure embarrassment, she lay her head on his chest and looked at the far wall. She sighed before speaking...

"... Well Ash, what I wanted to tell you was... Leaf found out..." Serena admitted in a quiet voice.

"Leaf found out..." Ash repeated. "Found out about what?".

"Found out that you've moved into my room..." Serena admitted but her voice got quieter as she went on. "And that we've been sharing a bed.".

Ash's response was not one Serena expected and it was not one she wanted to hear. Ash was laughing. She pushed herself up and looked at her laughing boyfriend with a stern expression. She has been scared to reveal this to him and he is laughing, does he think this is some kind of joke?

"What are you doing Ash?" Serena asked in a surprising strict tone. "I just said...".

Ash took a page out of Serena's playful mood and pecked her lips to stop her from speaking. The sudden gesture shocked the honey-blonde girl, making her forget what she was saying, and her cheeks turned bright red. As Ash withdrew, his cheeks also had a tiny bit of red on them.

"The reason I was laughing was because... Drake also found out." Ash admitted. "I just found it funny that we've both been worried about the same thing.".

"Hehehe, I guess that is kinda funny." Serena giggled before she lay back down next to Ash, snuggling up to him. "So, you're not angry?".

"Of course, not." Ash reassured as he gave her a comforting hug. "It may not be what we planned but it's not like we can change it, and I know neither of us did it on purpose. Getting upset over it seems pretty pointless.".

Serena snuggled into Ash more after hearing him speak. She whispered the next, so quite that Ash couldn't hear her. "This is why I love you.".

"What was that?" Ash asked as he genuinely didn't hear her.

"Doesn't matter." Serena smiled. Before Ash could question what, she said any further, she pushed herself up and gave him a passionate kiss. Any thoughts about his battle tomorrow left his mind as was now focused completely on his girlfriend in this loving moment...

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	23. Orange League - The Champion Battle

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the champion battle. I hope you like the six Pokemon I gave Ash in the end. This chapter will only be part of the battle because of its length. Drake's team is exactly like the anime. Remember to vote in the poll, it will change when the Johto arc will begin. With that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 23: Orange League - The Champion Battle_

It was the morning of the final battle of the Orange League. This is the day Ash will battle the champion Drake in a full six on six battle for his chance to win the Orange trophy and go down in the Orange League hall of fame.

Currently Ash is sat at a table having breakfast with his friends: Serena, Misty, Leaf and Drake. Of course, Pikachu is also their, but he is having his breakfast with Eevee before the big match and Togepi is having fun flinging his mashed banana around instead of eating it.

"So, Ash, have you decided which six Pokemon you're going to use after what we discovered on the league database?" Drake asked as he took a sip of his morning coffee. He was helping Ash research Drake's team, but the champion has fifty different Pokemon registered on his team and the only one he used in every single battle as champion was his Dragonite, so it was next to impossible for them to guess who the champion would actually chose since both teams need registering beforehand.

"Of course, I have put them down on paper so now all we have to do is win." Ash replied with a smile.

"Care to enlighten us to who you will use then?" Misty asked in a deadpan tone.

"Well obviously Pikachu was my first choice." Ash replied as he smiled at the electric type. "Then I remembered Drake's advice for taking on the Viridian gym all that time ago, so I built up a fire water grass core with Charizard, Gyarados and Ivysaur respectively. For the last two spots, I went with Dragonair because of her spirit.".

"I think you mean stubbornness." Leaf interrupted with a laugh.

"Hehehe, maybe." Ash chuckled slightly. "And knowing Drake would be using a Dragonite, I knew I would need someone strong enough to take it on, so I picked Aerodactyl as he is my strongest Pokemon and most experienced.".

As Ash explained his full team of six Pokemon and why he chose them, his brother listened with a thoughtful expression. In all honesty, it is a good team on the surface and all of Ash's reasoning is solid but going in with three flying types is practically asking for trouble. Anyway, now isn't a good time to mention these downfalls as it would take Ash's mind off the battle ahead and it is too late to switch his team around anyway.

"It doesn't matter who you use, Ash. We know you'll win." Serena told her boyfriend before planting a small delicate kiss on his lips. She whispered something as she withdrew. "That was for good luck.".

The rest of the meal was filled with chat and excitement for the upcoming match. Soon two officials showed up to escort Ash to the stadium, along with his friends so they all packed up and set off. Once at the stadium, Serena took Togepi and wished Ash good luck with another quick kiss. Ash's other friends also wished him good luck but not like Serena did. One of the officials showed Ash to the waiting rooms while the other showed his friends to the spectator's box.

* * *

"This is an exciting day folks as this year's champion battle between the challenger Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in Kanto faces of against our currently undefeated champion Drake Yūji." The announce spoke as the crowd roared.

Waiting in the hall which connects to the main battle field, Ash is stood with Pikachu on his shoulder. While one might think this would be easier than the Indigo League since Ash has already competed and by all accounts the Orange league is smaller than a regional league, the raven-haired boy is just as nervous, maybe because of his young age, maybe the excitement or it could be because he has made it to the final round of the tournament.

"Now here he is, this year challenger…" The announcer announced as the crowd roared. Seeing as this is his cue, Ash took a deep breath and started to walk onto the field. "Ash Ketchum!".

The screamed with excited meant. None more-so then Ash's friends, namely Serena (who was holding Togepi) and Leaf. Of course, Misty was also showing her support for Ash but wasn't quite as vocal as the other girls. Drake was also supporting Ash but failed to see what shouting about it would do other then put un-needed pressure on Ash.

The raven-haired boy took his spot in the trainer's box as Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder, he attempted to smile at the crowd but the nervous prevented him from doing so, he maybe the challenger but the main star was yet to show up.

"While young being only twelve years old, this up-coming trainer proved himself to be quite the battler in the last Indigo League where he placed in the top four despite it being his first league." The announcer informed. "While he demonstrated to have a close bond with all his Pokemon, the one which got the attention of our champion was his Gyarados who has been shown to have an affectionate side for the young trainer, and not afraid to show it either.".

Once again, the crowd roared with excitement as Ash blushed in embarrassment. While he loves to battle, he isn't so fond of being the centre of attention.

Lucky for the Pallet native, soon a massive roar shook the entire stadium, bring it to a silence. Sure enough, a powerful looking Dragonite began its decent into the stadium, on the opposite side of the field to Ash and Pikachu, with a man in his mid-twenties on its back.

"And now your champion folks, Drake Yūji." The announcer announced as the crowd cheered. If it was loud for Ash, it was at least triple the volume now. "Drake has been the undefeated Orange League champion for ten years now and has proven himself to be quite the strong but caring trainer during his time.".

As the crowd calmed down and as Drake returned his Dragonite, clipping the Pokeball to the string around Drake's neck to act as a neckless, a referee took the ref's stand, signalling both trainers to also take their positions in the trainer's boxes.

"This will be a full six on six battle between the Orange League champion, Drake Yūji and the challenger, Ash Ketchum." The ref declared. "Once three Pokemon on either side has been defeated, there will be a field change and fifth teen minute intermission.".

As the ref explained the rules for this battle, the bland looking field opened as another field took its place. This looked like the typical rock battle field as sharp jagged rocks were poking out of the field in all directions. Although the thing to set it apart from other rock fields is a pool of water at the centre.

"The first half of the match will take place on a rock and water field." The ref added. "While there is no time limit, the champion shall reveal his Pokemon first. Furthermore, only the challenger can make substitutions.".

"You must be a great trainer to have made it this far, Ash." Drake praised as he took a Pokeball off his belt and enlarged it. "I am looking forward to see how this battle shapes up!".

Throwing the Pokeball into the air, it burst open releasing the Pokemon inside in a flash of light. Ash knows Drake has over fifty different Pokemon to choose from, and the only common member to all his champion battles was the Dragonite who was saved until last. Soon Drake's first choice appeared, and it was a Ditto. Taking his Pokedex out, Ash scanned the normal type:

 _Ditto, The Transform Pokemon. It transforms into whatever it sees. If the thing it's transforming into isn't right in front of it, Ditto relies on its memory—so sometimes it fails._

While not battling against one himself, Ash knew that a Ditto can only learn the move transform. This means he would be fighting the Pokemon he sent out. While Ash believes any of his Pokemon could win the match, he wants to start the battle of right with his very first Pokemon.

"Then I choose you, Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he pointed out into the field. Like a bolt of lightning, Pikachu jumped from Ash's side to the battle field, sparking his cheeks to show he is ready to battle, while Ditto stared back with a blank expression. Up in the stands, Serena's Eevee let herself out to watch her boyfriend battle.

"Drake has started off with his tricky Ditto while Ash has gone for his Pikachu." The announcer informed. "This isn't odd for Drake as many challengers have failed to overcome this shape shifting Pokemon when used in the past. But will it be able to do the same to young Ash and his trusted Pikachu who has proven to also be a tough battler in the Indigo League?".

"Ditto VS Pikachu…" The ref declared. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Drake VS Ash (P. I):_

"Transform!" Drake shouted the moment the battle begun without missing a beat.

Ditto's whole body began to glow white, like when other Pokemon evolve but instead of evolving since Ditto has no known evolution, his body took the shape of Pikachu. Although this was expected by both Ash and Pikachu since this is what Ditto are best known for.

"Quick Attack!" Ash shouted as the transformation ended.

Shooting off like a bullet, both Ash and Pikachu wanted to take an early lead. They we're doing this by starting off with a barrage of attacks, to hopefully throw them off.

Pikachu slammed into his copy before either Drake or Ditto had time to react. Ditto went flying through the air as Pikachu came to a stop. The Transform Pokemon was able to correct its path and landed on a rock, looking like it hadn't even been hit.

"Quick Attack, again." Ash instructed.

Pikachu shot off like a bullet once more, towards Ditto who was crouched down on the rock, waiting for its orders. When Pikachu was moments away from impact, the champion made his move.

"Quick Attack to dodge." Drake countered.

Ditto shot forward, barely missing Pikachu who slammed into the rock. The impact caused a bit of dizziness on the electric mouse Pokemon as Ditto came to a stop. He already knew what to do.

"Dig." Drake instructed.

Ditto jumped into the air, spinning around before burying through the ground. Pikachu got up to find the whole. Great, that is super effective against himself and Drake has clearly studied to have a good idea about his move set since Ditto can only use the moves Pikachu knows himself.

"Keep moving Pikachu, we can't make it easy for Ditto to hit you." Ash instructed.

Pikachu nodded at Ash's instruction and began to jump from rock to rock in an attempt to avoid the Ditto who could be anywhere underground. Unfortunately, Drake already had a plan to make sure Ditto didn't miss.

"Grass Knot." Drake instructed barely above a whisper.

Deep under the ground, Ditto closed its eyes and tensed up. Two blades of grass sprout above the ground, tying themselves together. Since neither Ash or Pikachu heard the command, they weren't expecting the attack and Pikachu got caught it in, making him fall over.

Ditto didn't waste its time and didn't need to be told what to do. Shooting up out of the ground, it burst out directly under Pikachu who was attempting to stand up after being tripped. The two Pokemon went flying. Ditto landed perfectly on a rock as Pikachu landed on the ground with a thud.

"Come on Pikachu!" Ash pleaded. "You just gotta get up! I believe in you!".

Pikachu gritted his teeth as he attempted to get up, this is the battle they have been preparing for, arguably their most important battle to date. Trying to ignore the pain he is in thanks to that Dig attack, he was almost up off the ground, but Drake wasn't just going to let them off that easy.

"Iron Tail." Drake instructed.

Ditto jumped into the air as his tail was coated in metal. Spinning around, it was able to add momentum to the steel type move. Ash tried to call out for Pikachu to move but the pain from the previous Dig attacks took over. Unable to move out of the way, Ditto landed an Iron Tail attack on top of Pikachu's head. The electric types eyes seemed to become diluted. As Ditto bounced back onto another rock, Pikachu fell to the side but still conscious.

"Come on buddy, I know you can get up!" Ash shouted encouragement.

Pikachu heard his trainers voice and was brought back to the field. He rolled onto his stomach as he started to push himself up. This was exactly what the Orange League is about, the bond between Pokemon and trainer.

Unfortunately, Ditto wasn't about to let either Pikachu or Ash have the chance to recover. It ran at the struggling electric type, once it appeared in front of his opponent, it swung his tail around in an attempt to land a Slam attack. Ditto chose this attack for a number of reasons, it has a lot more base power than a Quick Attack, not to mention Iron Tail is much slower than a Slam attack thanks to the tail literally being turned into metal.

Luckily, Pikachu has good reflexes and was able to jump back, avoiding the incoming Slam attack. Although Ditto is trained well enough to keep up the pressure, of course it took him a little bit to get use to this body but now he is good to go. It charged forward and attempted another Slam attack. Pikachu continued to back up to avoid Ditto's assault but the Transform Pokemon refused to give up.

As it continued to launch a several Slam attacks, it also tensed up. No-one noticed two small blades of grass sprouting out of the ground behind Pikachu due to them being so small. Pikachu continued backwards as he continued to dodge Ditto's assault.

The electric mouse landed in the corner with Ditto falling down as it attempted another Slam attack. Being an experienced battler, Pikachu shot forward with a Quick Attack, easily avoiding the Slam. Unfortunately, Pikachu didn't know about the Grass Knot and thus couldn't dodge it. His paw was caught in the two blades of grass which made the electric type fall over which resulted in a large thud.

"Pikachu!" Ash gasped as he too was shocked by the surprise Grass Knot attack.

Pikachu was quick to recover and began to push himself up. Normally Grass Knot's power is based on the weight of the Pokemon which gets used but because the electric mouse was using a speed attack at the time, that seems to have multiplied the grass moves power.

As he stood up on all fours, Pikachu attempted to look for his opponent. Unfortunately, Ditto was no-where to be seen. There were two possible options, the first is it is running so fast that he can't spot him, the second is...

The ground underneath Pikachu began to stir as Ditto shot out underneath the electric types feet. Ditto had used Dig. Pikachu attempted to move out the way and shot off to the side with an agility attack as Ditto shot high into the air. It seems like Ditto was prepared for this as it had used a second Grass Knot attack while underground. Pikachu's foot was again caught in the blades, causing him to fall over.

Ditto's tail was coated in metal as it began to spin towards the grounded electric mouse Pokemon. Ash shouted out for Pikachu to look out, but it was too late, he didn't want to risk escaping with another speed move in there was a third Grass Knot and his paw was hurting after the last trip, so he was unable to move out of the way. Ditto's Iron Tail landed directly on top of Pikachu's head, his eyes seemed to dilate before Ditto jumped back and Pikachu fell on his stomach.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, this first round goes to the champion Drake Yūji and his Ditto." The ref declared.

* * *

Ash walked out onto the field with a sad expression, as Ditto returned to his normal form. Kneeling down next to his partner, Ash took his jacket off and wrapped the electric type in it. As he carried his starter back to the trainer's box, Ash whispered a thank you to his starter. Upon in the spectator's box, Ash's friends weren't too happy with the start of the battle.

"And the champion takes an early lead in this match by defeating Ash's Pikachu." The announcer announced as the crowd cheered once more. "We have seen Drake destroy entire teams with his shape shifting friend, how will Ketchum fight against it now?".

"Vee vee." Eevee groaned sadly, her boyfriend went down in the first battle, of course she is upset.

"Don't worry Eevee, I am sure Pikachu will be okay." Serena comforted her normal type.

"Poor Pikachu..." Misty sighed.

"Guess they weren't kidding when they said Drake is one strong trainer." Drake commented.

"Doesn't matter how strong he is, Ash will win." Leaf stated bluntly.

Ash looked at the normal type after setting Pikachu down next to him, still wrapped in his blanket. While he knows all five of his Pokemon are tough, he needs someone who is more than tough. Wait, Ditto becomes its opponent. Well if Ash knows his Pokemon there is one more than any other who wouldn't like to be copied, she is the perfect choice to put the transform Pokemon in its place.

With his mind made up, Ash unclipped the Ultra Ball off his belt. "I choose you, Dragonair!".

In a flash of light, the female dragon type appeared as Ash caught the Ultra Ball again. He clipped it back on to his belt as Dragonair let out an elegant battle cry, extended towards the sky. Ditto didn't even need to be told what to do and automatically transformed into a Dragonair.

Ash's Dragonair humphed at her opponent, this purple blob wants to impersonate a princess does it. Well, she would be sure to show this thing exactly what happens to those who try to impersonate her. Besides it wasn't even a good copy, then again no-one could match her beauty, could they?

"And Ketchum has gone with his Dragonair, but will she be enough to handle Drake's Ditto?" The announcer questioned.

Dragonair narrowed her eyes, she will be more than enough for this copycat and any other Pokemon foolish enough to take her on. She doesn't need to

Ditto lowered itself down and slammed its tale on the ground to try and intimidate this Pokemon. Since Ash has used Pikachu in more league battles, Drake knew his move set better and Ditto knows this will be a harder opponent.

"Ditto VS Dragonair..." The ref declared. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Drake VS Ash (P. II):_

"Dragon Rush!" Drake shouted.

While he doesn't know the more special moves Ash's Dragonair has been taught, since his Dragonite was once a Dragonair, he knows the level up moves Ash's is likely to know. Unfortunately, until he sees the other moves he will need to stick to the level up moves anyway.

Ditto was surrounded by dark blue dragon type energy with dark yellow eyes. Shooting forward like a freight train, it was ready to impact onto Dragonair hard, but the princess wasn't fazed in the slight. She was ready to dodge on instinct, but Ash made a different call first.

"Counter with Ice Beam." Ash instructed.

Dragonair doesn't mind countering instead of dodging because ultimately both makes Ditto's move worthless. With an elegant battle cry, a light blue ball of ice formed just in front of her mouth before a powerful beam of Ice shot out and struck Ditto directly.

Ditto wasn't able to dodge the close-range attack. The ice began to expand around the Dragon Rush attack, the super effective attack was slowly damaging the transformed Pokemon. Ditto was slowing down as Dragonair increased the power of her Ice Beam. Ultimately Ditto crashed into the ground, just in front of Dragonair who stared at her importer with disgust. She just proved who is stronger.

"Wrap." Drake instructed.

Ditto opened its eyes but didn't attempt to push itself of the ground. Slyly, in one quick movement, it swung its tail around, wrapping itself around Dragonair. Making its grip as tight as possible, Drake smirked until he saw the expression on Dragonair's face.

The princess who looked like a raging Tauros after being stung by a Beedrill. First this purple blob impersonates her then it has the nerve to touch her. Ash knew straight away that Ditto just made a big mistake. Despite acting like a princess, it takes a lot to make Dragonair angry. Plus, as shown when she helped Lapras learn Ice Beam, she can be a sweet and caring Pokemon but once she is angry someone will pay.

"Outrage." Ash instructed with a nervous voice crack.

While Dragonair has never disobeyed him before, she has never really got angry during a battle so the chance she would lash out with Outrage anyway was high. A red out line appeared around Dragonair before whacked Ditto with her tail, sending him flying into the ground as his Wrap was made useless.

Not giving the transform Pokemon a chance to get up, Dragonair shot forward with her Outrage attack, sending Ditto into a rock which imploded upon impact. Still in her Outrage, Dragonair shot for Ditto once more. The Transform Pokemon attempted to move but the onslaught of attacks is causing major pain to it, thus slowing it down.

Dragonair Bite down on Ditto's neck, causing it to cry out in pain as the dragon type energy provided by the Outrage inflicted Super effective damage. Pulling both herself and her impostor up, still with the tight grip she turned towards a wall.

"Try and use Thunder Wave!" Drake shouted in a panick.

Ditto's jewel under its chin began to glow but before any sort of attack could be made, Dragonair shot towards the wall. Zooming past Drake. The jarring motion made Ditto cancel his attempt at a defence. Less than then a second later, the two Pokemon crashed into the wall with a cloud of smoke covering them.

A Dragonair slivered out of the cloud first but the issue is knowing if this is Ditto still transformed or Ash's princess. The Dragon type slivered to the starting position in front of Ash. Despite her mind being in a sort of daze confusion from the onslaught of attacks, she still held herself like a princess, it was clear that this is Ash's Pokemon.

Seeing as his opponents Pokemon made it out, Drake looked back towards the cloud of dust where his Pokemon still remained. He severely underestimated Dragonair in this battle and as a result his Ditto paid the price. While unlikely, he would like to know his Pokemon is okay.

Soon the cloud of dust settled and flat on its stomach lay Drake's Ditto with swirls in its eyes. Covered in bruises and scratches it was clearly in no-shape to continue battling. Dragonair humphed at her work, despite still feeling the confusion effect, she is proud of what she did to that impostor.

"Ditto is unable to battle, this round goes to the challenger Ash Ketchum and his Dragonair." The ref declared.

* * *

"There you have it, folks. The challenger Ash Ketchum evens up the rounds by defeating Drake's Ditto." The announcer informed as the crowd roared in excitement.

"Yes! Keep it up, Ash! Leaf shouted encouragement.

"Hehehe, if anyone wouldn't like being copied, of course it would be the princess." Misty giggled as she watched Dragonair act like royalty.

"But Ash is still at a disadvantage, since one of his remaining Pokemon has already battled, while all of Drake's Pokemon are still fresh." Drake informed.

"He will still win." Serena informed in a scolding tone, which caused her boyfriend's brother to sweat drop, he never meant to sound like he wasn't supporting his brother, of course he is, but he is just being realistic with the current predicament.

"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Ditto as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash. "That was well done, Ash. I am guessing you knew your Dragonair well enough to know she doesn't like to be copied.".

"Yeah, I guess I did." Ash blushed in embarrassment. "Will Ditto be okay?".

"Of course, it will." Drake replied as he took out his second Pokeball. "But just beating it is impressive, you wouldn't believe how many challengers don't get past my first Pokemon.".

Even though he has many Pokemon, just the fact that many of his challengers don't make it past one of his Pokemon even when he isn't allowed to make any substitutions is a true testimate to his strength as the Orange League Champion.

"But now it is time for my second Pokemon, and this one is gonna rock you." Drake smirked as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "Go Onix!".

In a flash of light, the giant snake-like Pokemon made completely out of rocks loomed over both Ash and Dragonair. It let out a powerful battle cry which shook the stadium, just a show of this Pokemon's power. Ash used his Pokedex to scan this Pokemon:

 _Onix, The Rock Snake Pokemon. Onix has a magnet in its brain. It acts as a compass so that this Pokémon does not lose direction while it is tunnelling. As it grows older, its body becomes increasingly rounder and smoother._

Ash already made his mind up and pulled out an Ultra Ball, recalling Dragonair to it. While she is certainly strong enough to handle Onix and even has a type advantage with her preference of fighting in the rain. Ash doesn't want to risk the confusion working against them and also wants to save Dragonair for any later and likely strong Pokemon. Since Dragon is one of the most resilient types, she would hold an advantage over a lot his other Pokemon are weak to after all.

"Thank you, Dragonair. Get a good rest since I will need you later on." Ash whispered to his Pokeball.

He knows Dragonair won't have a problem with being returned since she took out her opponent. She isn't like some of his Pokemon who like to stay until they fall. Ash quickly swapped the Ultra Ball for a Pokeball. Since Onix is going to be a powerful opponent, Ash will need to go with a Pokemon just as powerful who also has a type advantage. Lucky, he has just the Pokemon to fulfil that role.

"I choose you, Gyarados!" Ash shouted as he threw his Pokeball. In a flash of light, the atrocious Pokemon appeared and let out a load battle cry which matched the one Onix made on his appearance. Narrowing his eyes, Onix had his attack state lowered from the intimidate.

With his entrance over, knowing they will have an important battle soon, Gyarados fulfilled he entrance requirements and turned towards Ash. Diving at his beloved trainer, he began his typical affectionate lick, which caused the raven-haired boy to laugh over the affection from his partner.

"Hahahaha, come on Gyarados." Ash laughed as he struggled to stay up. "We have a battle; can't this wait until later?". After about a minute of the show of affection, Gyarados finally let his trainer up and returned to his battle stance. The audience weren't quite sure how to react.

"Here it is folks, the famed affectionate Gyarados." The announcer informed. "It was this Pokemon which gave Ash the chance to compete in the Orange League, so we can expect great things from this Pokemon.".

"Onix VS Gyarados..." The ref declared. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Drake VS Ash (P III):_

"Rock Tomb." Drake instructed as soon as the battle started.

Onix let out a loud battle cry as he slammed his tail onto the ground. The ground shook slightly but not enough to knock Gyarados of balance or to even cause damage like an Earthquake or Bulldoze would. Four large rocks shot into the air before falling down while set to land directly on Gyarados.

Not being an idiot, Gyarados reacted quickly and slivered across the ground to avoid the falling rocks. Although he isn't at his most mobile on the land and the centre pool is too small to hold him, Gyarados was able to avoid all the rocks. Although Ash came up with a strategy thanks to Pidgeot back in his battle against Tierno.

"Dragon Dance." Ash instructed.

Gyarados extended up and let out a massive battle cry as red lights appeared around his body. Both his physical strength and his speed increased. He roared once more at the rock ground type. The Rock snake Pokemon knew this was a powerful opponent but his display of affection really took away from his intimidation.

Onix charged forward as a power barrier formed around him, he was using Double Edge. Using his increased speed, Gyarados slide to the side and out of the way, due to him moving with such power, Onix wasn't able to change his path. He slammed into the wall but was quick to get back up. Ash didn't take long to notice the Rock Snake Pokemon didn't take any recoil damage, of course his ability must be Rock Head.

Gyarados coated his tail in water, powering up an Aqua Tail attack. The atrocious Pokemon swung his tail around, thanks to his increased speed, Onix was too slow to move out of the way. Being struck by the super effective attack, Onix was knocked down to the ground.

Needing time to recover, Onix quickly buried underground, using a Dig attack. While Gyarados is technically a flying type, it is highly likely the dig will still hit the atrocious Pokemon. This is because a Pokemon's type is determined by the two main type energies which are within their DNA, this also determines how effective certain type moves are on each Pokemon. This is also why some Pokemon who can fly, like Beedrill, aren't classed as flying types themselves.

"Careful Gyarados, Onix could come up anywhere and at any time." Ash warned.

The water flying type nodded in understanding before narrowing his eyes, watching the ground very carefully. He is on high alert and ready to strike when the Rock Snake Pokemon decides to show its ugly face. Gyarados is going to win this battle, he has already decided.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Drake smirked.

The ground started to shake violently but it wasn't strong enough to be an attack like Magnitude or Earthquake. Suddenly, bright blue rock formations shout out of the ground, followed by another and another. The rocks were moving towards the atrocious Pokemon.

Gyarados wasn't an idiot and was able to move out of the way but the blue rocks continued to sprout up under the atrocious Pokemon although the water flying was able to keep moving to avoid the attack, although he couldn't keep dodging them forever.

Ash's main issue with this is, he has never seen a move like this. It is presumably a rock type move or a ground type move but which one. Drake saw the confusion and panick on the young boy's face and decided to cut him a break.

"Ash, Onix is currently using a Stone Edge while underground." Drake informed with a sense of superiority. In the long run, this wouldn't cause to much in the battle as even if Ash didn't know the attacks name he would work out a counter just by looking at how it is working.

"But this isn't like any Stone Edge I have seen before?" Ash questioned.

"Pokemon can change and adapt how they use a move to certain situations. Since the normal way a Stone Edge can't be used underground, Onix and I developed a way to combine the attack whilst using Dig." Drake informed.

A roar from his atrocious Pokemon drew Ash's attention back to the battle, which caused Ash to look on in horror. Gyarados was surrounded by a circle of blue rocks which extended so high that he couldn't jump out of the prison.

Before Ash could think of or tell Gyarados a plan to escape, Onix shot up from the ground completely underneath Gyarados. The Rock Snake Pokemon struck the water flying type hard. Onix also acted quickly by wrapping his body around Gyarados in a vice tight grip. This angered the atrocious Pokemon who attempted to struggle against the Rock Snake Pokemon, but the rock ground type only tightened his grip.

"Ice Fang!" Ash shouted.

Gyarados let out a mighty roar as he coated his teeth in ice. Gyarados bite his teeth down on the rock ground types neck, while not pleasant to bite down on a rock, Gyarados' teeth are kept in good condition so they didn't hurt from using this attack.

Onix shouted out in pain, despite not being a super effective, the atrocious Pokemon is clearly a strong and powerful Pokemon so this did cause pain the Rock Snake Pokemon. Onix ended up loosening his grip on the water flying type.

Gyarados took advantage of this and struggled free from Onix's grip while holding the rock ground type with Ice Fang. Due to the duration of this attack being used, ice began to form around Onix's neck. Gyarados knew he couldn't keep this up forever and decided now was time for his surprise.

Building up the power with in his body, a powerful blast of water shot out of Gyarados' mouth. He used Hydro Pump. Technically, he learnt this move the other day while training, but he wanted to keep it secret from even Ash, so he could surprise him in battle.

Due to Onix literally being stuck at Gyarados' mouth, he took the super effective move head on. This also ensured the move was a critical hit. This is because the move is most powerful when it hits close to the source as it loses power as it travels. Onix was sent flying into a wall but Gyarados didn't let up on the attack, no longer needing to use Ice Fang to hold him in place, Gyarados cancelled that attack which meant he could increase Hydro Pump's power.

After around thirty seconds, Gyarados ended his powerful water type move. As Onix could be seen once again, no-longer being covered by the powerful blast of water, he was lying on the ground motionless with swirls in his eyes. Gyarados let out a powerful battle cry as the ref made the call.

"Onix is unable to battle, this round goes to the challenger Ash Ketchum and his Dragonair." The ref declared.

* * *

"Awesome Gyarados, you've learnt Hydro Pump and you beat Onix!" Ash cheered, although he was soon silenced as Gyarados turned back to his trainer. The atrocious Pokemon was still full of energy ready for another battle, but before that, he dived on his trainer using another affectionate lick. It is a little jarring to see a furious and dangerous Pokemon in battle quickly turn back to an affectionate Pokemon in the blink of an eye.

"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Onix as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash. "It appears I have underestimated the strength of your Gyarados, he has been well trained.".

"Hehehe, yeah." Ash laughed as Gyarados finally let him up. "Gyarados is really strong?".

Drake smiled as Gyarados let out another roar as if to emphasis Ash's point. It may seem weird because he has seen many challengers which openly affectionate Pokemon, but it just seeing it from a normally angry Pokemon brought a smile out on his face.

"And young Ketchum has taken a lead by taking out Drake's second Pokemon." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered. "It is a rare occurrence to see the challenger take a lead against Drake, can he keep this momentum up or will he go the way like the previous challengers?".

"Who would've thought I would be down to my third Pokemon already?" Drake asked in a slight amused tone as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "But this time you don't stand a ghost of a chance! Go Gengar!".

In a flash of light, the purple ghost Pokemon appeared on the battlefield before floating up into the air with a mischievous smile on her face. Ash sweat dropped as he remembered his own Haunter, hopefully the evolved form is more mature... And sane, then what his is. Ash used his Pokedex to scan this Pokemon:

 _Gengar, The Shadow Pokemon. The final evolved form of Gastly. Sometimes, on a dark night, your shadow thrown by a streetlight will suddenly and startlingly overtake you. It is actually a Gengar running past you, pretending to be your shadow._

"How do you feel about going in for another round, Gyarados?" Ash asked. It may not seem like the best match up but in all honesty, none of Ash's Pokemon registered for this battle are a clear counter for the ghost poison type, although a lot of them do have different ways to handle it. Not to mention, Gyarados has the stat boosts from the Dragon Dance, which would disappear if he switched out and if needed Ash is allowed to make substitutions at any time.

Gyarados let out another roar to show he is ready to take this ghost on, he would do the same to it that he did to the rock snake. As the atrocious Pokemon entered another battle stance, Gengar let out a menacing laugh as his own battle cry.

"Ash is going to use Gyarados against Gengar as well?" Drake questioned in a judgemental tone.

"What's wrong with that?" Misty asked.

"First, it would be good to let Gyarados rest. It is still relatively early on in the match." Drake replied thoughtfully. "Plus, Gengar has a large possible move pool so it isn't good to take a risk against it.".

"Wow, you sure know your stuff." Leaf cooed in an adoring tone. Drake's facial expression showed her 'flirting' attempt had absolutely no effect on him.

"Ash knows what he is doing." Serena replied as she clenched her fist.

"Gengar VS Gyarados..." The ref declared. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Drake VS Ash (P IV):_

"Dragon Dance!" Ash shouted.

Although he already has one Dragon Dance up, Ash isn't stupid, he knows Gengar is much faster than Onix and this should help re-energise his atrocious Pokemon, despite winning the previous battle and being in decent battling condition, every little helps.

Gyarados extended up and let out a massive battle cry as red lights appeared around his body. Both his physical strength and his speed increased. He roared once more at the Shadow Pokemon. Gengar wasn't intimidated by the atrocious Pokemon, not in the slightest.

Gengar floated down in a speedy fashion towards the water flying type. Gyarados narrowed his eyes and used his enhanced speed to sliver to the side but to his surprise, Gengar didn't launch an attack at him. Although Gyarados kept his eyes locked on the ghost type. Gengar quickly turned to the side, also looking Gyarados in his eyes. A red beam shot out of Gengar's eyes and they struck Gyarados' eyes, Gengar used Mean Look.

"What was that?" Ash asked, seeing as the 'attack' didn't seem to injure Gyarados in any way.

"Gengar used Mean Look, Ash." Drake smirked. Ash used his Pokedex to look the move up:

 _Mean Look: Mean Look prevents the target from switching out or fleeing (including via Teleport). It bypasses accuracy checks to always hit, unless the target is in the semi-invulnerable of a move such as Dig or Fly. The effect only applies as long as the Pokémon that used it remains in battle._

Great, part of the reason he let Gyarados start this fight was because he was safe in the knowledge that he could make substitutions while Drake couldn't, but this has thrown that advantage out of the window. Of course, Ash still believes in Gyarados but now things are just going to be even more difficult.

Gengar wasn't about to let Ash or Gyarados have a moments break. It floated high into the air, out of reach of Gyarados' physical moves because those would naturally be more powerful because of how Gyarados is built not to mention the boosts from Dragon Dance. Once he felt like he was at a safe distance, Gengar formed a Shadow Ball at his hands. As the first projectile shot towards Gyarados, Gengar formed the second one.

Gyarados used his enhanced speed to avoid it but was soon raining with Shadow Balls. Gyarados continued to sliver across the ground, avoiding the ghost type moves but it was difficult because of the amount of them. Ash knew this was just tiring Gyarados out and he had to come up with a counter to this predicament.

"Twister!" Ash shouted.

Gyarados roared as his eyes glew red. A powerful wind filled with dragon type energy began to swirl around the battlefield almost like a tornado. The wind forced the incoming Shadow Ball attacks of course and they just started swirling around Gyarados. Some ended up smashing into each other, causing them to implode upon impact others ended up imploding when hit with the dragon type energy. In short, none of them came close to hurting Gyarados.

Gengar was soon dragged into the Twister but in all honesty, he didn't put much resistance, almost like he wanted to be drawn in. As Gengar was frown around the atrocious Pokemon, he was laughing almost psychotically, there was no way to tell if he was taking any sort injury from the Twister attack. To be completely honest, it was unsettling to hear Gengar's laugh, even for the atrocious Pokemon who was put on edge by the laugh.

"Thunderbolt." Drake smirked.

While Gengar is a smart battler, he knows not to use what is obvious the most effective move against an opponent until his trainer tells him to, in case he is planning something. Ash was shocked when he heard Drake's command, he didn't know Gengar could use Thunderbolt.

As he continued to spin around on the Twister, using it like some sort of theme park ride, electrical sparks formed around Gengar's body. A powerful bolt of electricity shot at the atrocious Pokemon. As Gyarados cried out in pain, the Twister was brought to an abrupt end. Gengar stopped the electric type move, as he has his own personal favourite way to finish off each battle.

Gyarados fell on his stomach as the electricity stopped. His eyes burst open as he struggled to try and get up. He lost a battle back in the Indigo League because of an electric move and now it looks like history is going to repeat itself. No. He can't lose another battle for his beloved trainer. Luckily for Gyarados, he didn't take the full power of the Thunderbolt. The dragon type energy in the Twister protected him slightly and because Gengar was being thrown around, he couldn't use his full strength Gyarados attempted to push himself up, weak from taking the electric move mere moments ago Gengar put his plan into action.

Gengar floated dangerously close to Gyarados' face but the atrocious Pokemon was using all his strength to push himself up, thus couldn't launch an attack at the ghost poison type. Gengar laughed hysterically as he unleashed hypnotic waves from his eyes. Due to the close range, Gyarados was in no position to even attempt to dodge. Drake smirked, his Gengar has a preferred method to finish off every battle and he is happy for him to do so.

As the Hypnosis attack took its full effect, Gyarados slumped back down on the field, fast asleep. Ash gasped and start to call out in hopes of waking his atrocious Pokemon up, but it was useless. No doubt a good sleep would feel great when in pain after taking a super effective Thunderbolt.

With Gyarados now sleeping helplessly on the battlefield, Gengar smirked as he performed step two. He shot at Gyarados' head and seemed to enter it due to Gengar's ability to pass through solid objects as all ghosts do. Gyarados started to thrash around in his sleep in some sort of distress. Gengar was using Nightmare. Ash could only look on helplessly as he water flying type struggled. After about a minute, Gengar re-emerged from the water flying type with a psychotic laugh.

"Gyarados is unable to battle, this round goes to the champion Drake Yūji and his Gengar." The ref declared.

* * *

"Return Gyarados and get a good rest." Ash recalled his fallen friend sadly. Once the atrocious Pokemon was safe in his Pokeball, Ash looked at it sadly. "Sorry that that happened to you, friend. And thank you for all your hard work, it won't go to waste.".

"Poor Gyarados..." Misty commented sadly.

"I hope he will be okay." Serena added, also in a sad tone.

"Gyarados is tough, of course he will be fine." Leaf replied, filled with determination.

"But now Ash has a tough decision to make. No doubt Gengar will trap his next opponent with Mean Look again, which makes things twice as hard for Ash." Drake informed.

"And Drake goes and evens the score by making this two defeats a side." The announcer informed. "Since we have the intermission when one side loses three Pokemon, this next battle will decide who has the lead going into the second halve.".

Down on the battlefield, Ash is going over the remaining Pokemon on hand. Aerodactyl is certainly powerful enough to handle Gengar but he is arguably Ash's strongest Pokemon and his current best option for Dragonite. Ivysaur might be able to hinder him with some status conditions but lacks the fire power or type advantage to defeat him. Charizard and Dragonair are both strong enough but Charizard is still fresh, does he want to reveal a fourth member already?

Ash made his decision and quickly picked an Ultra Ball of his belt. While she has already battled, so has Gengar and when dealing with someone who tries to trap their opponents like Gengar does with Mean Look, she shows them who is boss. If anyone can beat Gengar, she can.

"I choose you, Dragonair!" Ash shouted as he threw the Ultra Ball once more.

In a flash of light, the princess appeared once more on the battlefield. Ash caught the Ultra Ball, clipping it back onto his belt. Dragonair had a smug look on her face as she stared at her next opponent. Perfect, she will prove she is stronger than the sea serpent by defeating the Pokemon which took him down and also prove that she is stronger than the psychotic ghost on Ash's team by defeating her evolved form.

"Gengar VS Dragonair..." The ref declared. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Drake VS Ash (P V):_

As soon as the battle started, Gengar attempted to float away and levitated high into the air. Dragonair isn't a fan of cowards who run from battle, she will prove who the strongest is. She let out an elegant battle cry as dark blue dragon type energy surrounded her body, her eyes also glew a dark yellow. She shot upwards towards the Shadow Pokemon like a Bullet. Dragonair used Dragon Rush.

As the princess shot up on a direct collision course for the ghost type. Gengar shot another red beam out of his eyes. They struck Dragonair's eyes thus making her unable to be returned until the round is over. Although it didn't stop her attack and she collided into the ghost poison type. Gengar fell to the battlefield, despite him needing to have felt the powerful move, he was still laughing. Gengar landed on its back, covered in soot as Dragonair let out an elegant battle cry.

"Rain Dance!" Ash shouted.

If he is going to win now that Dragonair is stuck in the battle, he is going to need to use the field to his full advantage, lucky he has always seemed to have a natural talent in that area but Dragonair works best in the rain so that is the best way to set the field up for her.

Dragonair let out another elegant battle cry as the jewel around her neck glew a light mystical blue. A black storm cloud formed over the whole stadium and soon it began to rain heavily. Rain Dance works by drawing in all nearby water vapour into one condense area, do to this being an island surround by ocean, there is a lot of water vapour to power up the weather move. Drake frowned as he knew Ash held the field advantage for this battle.

Gengar stood up as his laughing fit came to an end, he is actually quite the serious battler but tends to laugh like that as it can put a lot of opponent on edge, but he knows that he is at a disadvantage in the rain as none of his moves really take advantage of it, so he also knows now is the time to get serious.

The Shadow Pokemon wound his fist back as it glew a darkish purple. Letting it fly forward a sort for shadow in the shape of a giant fist appeared out of the glowing ball. Gengar was using Shadow Punch. Despite working best with special moves, Gengar chose Shadow Punch right now because it can't be avoided.

Dragonair was prepared for this, however, because of her training match with Haunter the other day. She coated her tail in water, which seemed to be powered up thanks to the rain. The princess did a complete spin in the air with her tail going over her head. As the tail slammed down, it collided with Gengar's fist. The two may have seemed evenly matched but due to her being above him, Gravity was working in Dragonair's favour and she knocked the ghost back down to the battlefield.

"Dragon Rush!" Ash hollered.

Letting out another elegant battle cry, Dragonair once again covered herself in the dark blue dragon type energy. She shot straight down after the ghost type who was falling towards the floor. Although impossible for anyone but Dragonair to tell due to the angle that he is falling at, Gengar opened his eyes a moment before hitting the ground and smirked. Dragonair crashed into the ground as a combination of black smoke and dust created a cloud around the collision.

Due to the rain dampening the cloud away, it wasn't long before both Pokemon could be seen. Dragonair was on the ground looking rather annoyed as Gengar floated above laughing hysterically. It doesn't take a genius to work out Gengar dodged the move by phasing into the ground and is now taunting the princess.

Not liking to be made to be an idiot, Dragonair hissed as a ball of ice formed at her mouth. A powerful Ice Beam shot out of the ball and due to how close the ghost type was, it made dodging very difficult. Gengar attempted to float out of the way with some impressive aerial manuvers but he couldn't dodge it completely and a foot of his became frozen. As Dragonair cancelled her Ice Beam, Gengar landed to inspect his injury. Lucky he wasn't fully frozen.

"Thunder!" Ash hollered.

Dragonair let out a battle cry which was more mighty than elegant, seems she is quickly getting annoyed with the ghosts jokey and mocking attitude. It is like he isn't even taking this battle seriously. He is almost as bad as Haunter... Almost.

A loud roar echoed from the rain cloud above the stadium, looking around it showed even the audience is being affected by the weather effect. A large and powerful bolt of lightning shot down and it covered almost the entire field. Dragonair was safe from the blast but Gengar wasn't so fortunate. It seemed as though Gengar took the blast of the Thunderbolt head on without even trying to escape.

After about twenty seconds of continuous Thunder, the lightening began to dissolve into thin air. Dragonair was obviously fine as it was her controlling the attack in the first place but surprisingly, Gengar was fine too, even the ice on his leg had disappeared. It turns out, Gengar used Thunderbolt to protect from the more powerful electric move, just like Ash's Tauros did in yesterday's battle against Virgil.

"We can keep on the defence, Gengar. It is time we moved onto an attacking front." Drake told his ghost type. "Dark Pulse.".

Gengar held his hands in front of him as a black ball of dark type energy appeared between the two of them. Dragonair was still hurting after that powerful explosion and wasn't able to effectively dodge the incoming attack. She powered up a second Ice Beam. The two special attacks were sent flying towards each other, each Pokemon putting their all to make the attacks as strong as possible.

The two moves collided head on in between the two Pokemon. The Dark Pulse and Ice Beam turned into an explosion which quickly expanded over the entire field, covering both Pokemon in a cloud of black smoke. Neither had the chance to move out of the way. Once again, the rain was effective in revealing the outcome of the battle as it dampened down the black smoke cloud. Soon both Pokemon were revealed on the ground covered in soot with swirls in their eyes.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle, the round is a tie." The ref declared. "Because both sides have lost three Pokemon, we shall take a short intermission.".

* * *

"Return Dragon and thank you." Ash recalled his fallen dragon type. He smiled sadly at the Ultra Ball in his hand before clipping it back to his belt, Dragonair was one of his strongest Pokemon and she proved that by dealing with two of Drake's Pokemon but now it is a three on three battle.

"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Gengar as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash. "Well done Ash, not many challengers can keep on an even footing with me moving into the second half.".

"Thanks Drake." Ash smiled at the champions words.

Drake smiled as the raven-haired boy took a seat on the bench behind his trainer's box for the intermission. He too took a seat on the bench behind his trainer's box, this is turning out to be one of the most fun matches he has had in a while. As the trainers relaxed, Dragonair's rain dance also came to an end. Pikachu finally woke up and went over to talk with Ash, but he was far from ready for any sort of battle.

"And after the first half, everything is even." Drake commented thoughtfully.

"That's got to be good?" Misty questioned. "It means Ash can match Drake, right?".

"Yes but look at Drake." Drake replied as he gestured down to the champion. Drake was smiling while sat on the bench, rolling the Pokeball on the neckless around between a finger and thumb. "He doesn't look the least bit worried, which means everything going is how he would think the battle should go.".

"That doesn't prove anything." Serena butted in defensively. "Ash will still win.".

The field was also changed to a sandy desert field, that would make it difficult for a lot of Pokemon to move, luckily for Ash, two of his remaining Pokemon can fly and the other one is more of a defensive battler so in a way, it shouldn't hinder his team in the second halve of the battle. Of course, that also depends on who Drake chooses for his final three Pokemon. No-doubt he will be using Dragonite in the end, so he can also take advantage of the air and avoid the field issues.

"Well folks this battle is turning out to be a treat, as we enter the second half both trainers have three Pokemon remaining." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered. Taking this as their cue for the battle to continue, both Drake and Ash returned to their trainer's box.

"Both sides have three Pokemon remaining, the same rules as before apply. There is no time limit and only the challenger, Ash Ketchum can substitute Pokemon when he likes." The ref explained. "Once again, the champion shall reveal his Pokemon first.".

"You have done well to make it this far, Ash. But this Pokemon is going back to my roots as a trainer." Drake informed as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "Go Venusaur!".

In a flash of light, a sort of dinosaur plant Pokemon appeared on the battlefield before letting out a mighty battle cry. Ash sweat dropped as he went over his remaining Pokemon, Ivysaur wouldn't be able to handle its evolved form considering his own reluctance to evolve. Both Aerodactyl and Charizard are strong against Venusaur but with Aerodactyl being the strongest member he is best saved for Dragonite later on. Ash could only guess that Venusaur was Drake's starter all the way back when he first became a trainer, not only because of his line about going back to his roots and because out of all of his registered Pokemon on the league database, Venusaur was Drake's only Pokemon that are typically given as a 'starter' Pokemon. Ash used his Pokedex to scan this Pokemon:

 _Venusaur, The Seed Pokemon. The final evolved form of Bulbasaur. There is a large flower on Venusaur's back. The flower is said to take on vivid colours if it gets plenty of nutrition and sunlight. The flower's aroma soothes the emotions of people._

"I choose you, Charizard!" Ash shouted as he threw his Pokeball high into the air.

In a flash of light, the fire lizard with wings appeared on the battlefield, standing opposite the grass poison type. Seeing a fellow final evolved form of a starter Pokemon, Charizard let out a mighty battle cry and launched a Flamethrower into the air. He entered a battle stance to match Venusaur.

"Venusaur VS Charizard..." The ref declared. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Drake VS Ash (P VI):_

"Vine whip." Drake instructed, not the least bit intimidated by the fire lizard with wings.

Venasuar let out a might roar as several thick vines shot out of the plant on his back. The number of vines easily out matched the amount Ash's Ivysaur is able to send out in one go. Due to them being so close together, it was impossible to count them together. They were also moving a lot quicker than Ivysaur's.

Charizard reacted on instinct and roared as he shot out another Flamethrower to intercept the vines. Thinking the Seed Pokemon wouldn't be able to recover quick enough, Charizard spread his wings before shooting off into the air. However, the vines continued to push forward until they wrapped around the fire flying type mid-air, taking the flame Pokemon by surprise.

A couple vines wrapped around Charizard's snout to stop him from countering with another Flamethrower. While the rest of the vines wrapped around the fire flying types body. Charizard began to struggle against the vines but Venasaur's grip was too strong. Ash remained calm though as he examined the situation.

" _There has to be some way for him to escape_." Ash thought to himself.

As Ash looked for a way to free his fire flying type, Venasuar slightly moved the plant on his back so it was aimed directly towards Charizard. A giant blob of purple poisonous sludge shot out and made direct contact on Charizard. Venasaur used Toxic.

Charizard continued to struggle as the badly poison took effect on the Flame Pokemon. This could easily turn into an easy win for Venasaur as the Toxic has put a time limit on his battle capability. Ash continued to watch Charizard in more of a panick before he saw a possible counter to this predicament.

"Calm down, Charizard!" Ash shouted which got him the fire flying types attention. "Use the flame on your tail to burn those vines.".

The fire type seemed to smirk at the idea and quickly swung his tail around the vines that were restraining his body. Venasaur gasped and on instinct his vines that were burnt retracted. Still being held down on the snout, Charizard used his tail once more and burnt the vines wrapped around his snout, freeing Charizard from the restraints. Charizard flew high into the air out of Venusaur's reach as he suffered from the poison.

Now that he was high in the air and safe out of Venasaur's reach, Charizard began to unleash a series of powerful Flamethrower's down on the grass poison type as he seemed to let out his anger about being restrained. Venasaur grunted as the flames struck him head on.

Ash smiled at the turn of events, if this kept up than he would take the lead in the battle once again. Although something seemed off about this current attack plan, Venasaur hasn't launched any sort of counter to protect himself and Drake hasn't told him either. Looking at the Drake, showed he was smirking. This made Ash panick as they are clearly up to something. Ash soon spotted why they were so confident, Venasaur was taking sunlight through his plant.

"Look out Charizard, he is going to use Solar Beam!" Ash shouted to the fire flying type.

Charizard roared as he dug deep for the fire power, normally he would prefer to finish a battle with the move Seismic Toss but due to the size of Venasaur and the fact that he is poisoned which is taking his strength, that move simply isn't an option in this battle. Soon Charizard built up enough fire power and turned his Flamethrower into the more powerful, Fire Blast.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Do to Venasaur's experience against all types of opponents, he had no problem standing tough against the Flamethrowers and was able to build up enough solar energy. A white beam with a little yellow tint shot out of the plant on his back towards Charizard. He used Solar Beam.

It was the most powerful Solar Beam Ash has ever seen and was so bright it made him, as well as the audience cover their eyes. Even the ref had to look away from the bright light. The Solar Beam and the Fire Blast collided mid-air, causing a massive explosion. Being more of a slow tank Pokemon, Venasaur was unable to move out of the blast radius. Normally, Charizard would have a similar issue when dealing with the badly poison from the Toxic but being smart, Charizard opened his wings as far as possible. The shock-wave from the explosion was caught in the wings and blew Charizard higher into the air and out of the blast radius.

Black smoke filled the field and covered Venasaur from view. The explosion also blew a lot of the sand from the field around. After about a minute, the smoke began to clear up to reveal Venasaur flipped over with swirls in his eyes. Looks like the combined Flamethrower's and the explosion was too much for him. Charizard landed in front of Ash and let out a mighty victory roar as the ref made his call.

"Venusaur is unable to battle, this round goes to the challenger Ash Ketchum and his Charizard." The ref declared.

* * *

"Awesome job, Charizard. You okay to keep going?" Ash asked.

Charizard was glowing purple due to the Toxic taking effect and was panting heavily but despite that, the fire flying type put his thumb... err, claw up. While it might seem like Ash is making the same mistake that he made when he kept Gyarados in against Gengar but there are a few things to consider. First, even if he returns Charizard, he likely wouldn't be in any condition to come back later on. Not to mention, the battle is coming to an end anyway, so it is best to use what is available.

"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Venasuar as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash. "You have definitely earnt your place in this match, Ash. I can't remember the last time Venasuar lost in a one on one match.".

"Thanks Drake." Ash smiled as Charizard shot a Flamethrower into the air. "But it is Charizard who deserves the credit?".

Drake smiled at the modesty, a lot of trainers would take full credit for each victory but that is why not every trainer can take part in the Orange League. Despite each of his Pokemon having different personalities, Ash is bringing the best out of all of them, he is arguably the most promising challenger Drake has had as champion.

"And young Ketchum has taken a lead again by defeating Venasuar with his Charizard." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered. "In his ten years as champion here, we have never seen Venasaur go down without at least one victory under his belt. This is proving to be quite a match.".

"Ash is doing pretty well, he might actually win." Misty commented.

"But Venasaur did a number on Charizard despite being at a major disadvantage." Drake commented. "And we haven't even seen Drake's ace yet.".

"You mean Dragonite?" Leaf questioned.

"Yeah." Drake replied.

"But Ash hasn't shown his strongest Pokemon either." Serena butted in. "Ash can and will win.".

"Well Ash, this has been the most fun I have had in a while, but the battle is coming to an end. Although I still have a few surprises to shock you." Drake told the raven-haired trainer as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "Go Electabuzz!".

In a flash of light, the yellow and black electric type Pokemon appeared on the battlefield before slamming his fists together as sparks appeared over his body. Ash sweat dropped as he remembered this as one of Paul's main battlers but that doesn't really matter. Ash used his Pokedex to scan this Pokemon:

 _Electabuzz, The Electric Pokemon. The evolved form of Elekid. When a storm arrives, gangs of this Pokémon compete with each other to scale heights that are likely to be stricken by lightning bolts. Some towns use Electabuzz in place of lightning rods._

Despite Charizard being at a clear disadvantage against the electric type, not even bring his poison condition into the argument, Charizard doesn't stand much chance against Dragonite anyway. Knowing Charizard, he would want to go down in battle not on the side-lines and he could prove useful if he can reveal some of Electabuzz's secrets, no-doubt he has some like the rest of Drake's team.

"Electabuzz VS Charizard..." The ref declared. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Drake VS Ash (P VII):_

Electabuzz was the first to make a move once the ref started the battle. Rubbing his two hands together, sparks appeared all over the electric Pokemon's body, mainly around the two antennae with bulbous at the ends. Soon a powerful Thunderbolt shot out of the electric types antennae.

Charizard was too tired to try and take flight again since he was suffering from the poison damage between the two rounds. As such he dug deep and breathed out a Flamethrower, it was still powerful but not quite as strong as before. It was still able to match even with Electabuzz though and hold the Thunderbolt back.

However, Ash soon noticed that Electabuzz was pumping more electrical energy through the Thunderbolt and that was slowly pushing the Flamethrower back. He knew it wouldn't be long before Charizard got zapped but the flame Pokemon was in no position to dodge or increase the fire power... That's it.

"Air Slash along with the Flamethrower!" Ash shouted.

As the Flamethrower did its job of holding the electric move off although barely since the two moves were slowly moving towards the Flame Pokemon, Charizard flapped his wings with as much might as he could muster. Shock waves through the air flew across the field towards the electric type Pokemon.

Being fast on his feet, Electabuzz quickly cancelled his Thunderbolt and dove to the side for safety. Moments later, both the Flamethrower and Air Slash combination blew past him. The Air Slash even blew some of the sand of the field around. Luckily, Electabuzz used his arm to stop it entering his eyes.

"Get close." Drake instructed as he watched the battle with an unreadable expression, a first since the battle began.

Electabuzz smirked before he started to charge across the sandy field towards the fire flying type. Despite his species not being known for being particularly fast, the electric type was very quick on his feet. Charizard took a few steps back and entered a defensive stance seeing as his current health limited his mobility to escape.

Taking a deep breath, the Flame Pokemon breathed out one final Flamethrower in an attempted to deter the electric type. Unfortunately, Electabuzz was too quick and skidded under the flames before he was at Charizard's feet with a cocky smirk on his face.

Not giving the fire flying type time to move or redirect the Flamethrower, more sparks appeared around Electabuzz's body. Less than a second later, a giant ball of electricity engulfed both Pokemon on the field. Electabuzz used Discharge. The Flamethrower instantly stopped as Charizard cried out in pain. The fire flying type was brought to his knees as the poison once again showed up within the Discharge as Electabuzz stood up, looming over his opponent.

While it felt like forever to Ash and Charizard, it was little more than five seconds in total before Electabuzz ended his attack. The electric type smirked at the wanna be dragon before turning around and walking back to his starting position. Charizard couldn't make a sound as he fell on his stomach with swirls in his eyes.

"Charizard is unable to battle, this round goes to the champion Drake Yūji and his Electabuzz." The ref declared.

* * *

"Return Charizard and get a good rest." Ash recalled his fallen friend sadly. Once the fire flying type was safe in his Pokeball, Ash looked at it sadly. "Sorry that that happened to you, friend but you did great against Electabuzz considering you was poisoned so thank you.".

"Poor Charizard..." Leaf commented sadly.

"I hope he will be okay." Serena added, also in a sad tone.

"Hey Serena, how come Delphox did let herself out to watch the battle?" Misty asked in a confused tone

"I don't know..." Serena replied with concern, just like Eevee does with Pikachu, Delphox seems to always want to watch her boyfriend battle. Serena took Delphox's Pokeball of her belt, she would be sure to speak with her starter later since now isn't exactly the best place to discuss it.

"And Drake goes and evens the score by leaving both sides with one Pokemon each." The announcer informed. "Who will Ketchum use to take on Drake's powerful Electabuzz?".

Down on the battlefield, Ash is going over the remaining Pokemon on hand. It is quite the easy decision considering his two remaining Pokemon registered for this battle. Aerodactyl is certainly powerful but he is weak against Electabuzz and has the best chance against Dragonite. Not to mention, Ivysaur has a good advantage over Electabuzz since grass resists electricity. This has turned out pretty well for the last part of the battle.

Ash made his decision and quickly picked his Pokeball of his belt. With Ivysaur still fresh and Electabuzz technically having used up some energy despite not taking a hit from Charizard, Ash has another advantage over the electric type.

"I choose you, Ivysaur!" Ash shouted as he threw the Pokeball high into the air.

In a flash of light, the grass poison type appeared on the battlefield. He seemed a little discomforted by the sandy battlefield at first because he hasn't battled on a field like this before, but he put that aside and entered a battle stance. Ivysaur has been training hard on his more defensive battle style so now is the perfect chance to put it into action. Both Pokemon entered a battle stance ready for the match to begin.

"Electabuzz VS Ivysaur..." The ref declared. "Begin!".

* * *

 _Drake VS Ash (P VIII):_

"Ice Punch." Drake instructed.

Electabuzz clenched both of his fists as they were coated in ice. Ash sighed, of course Drake's Electabuzz would have a counter to grass types. The electric type Pokemon started running towards the Seed Pokemon.

Ivysaur didn't even flinch and stood his ground. He isn't stupid and knows that he can't dodge the attack but that is where his evolved body as an advantage over the normal speed dodge. The grass poison type shot four vines out of the plant on his back. Two of them sweeped at Electabuzz's feet but the electric type jumped over them. This was what Ivysaur wanted, while stuck in the air, the second two vines shot towards Electabuzz's antenna's. Do to him being airborne, he couldn't dodge this, and the vines wrapped around them in a tight grip.

Electabuzz continued forwards despite being restrained but this was where Ivysaur used a neat trick he learnt while sparring against Tauros. Keeping the vines wrapped around Electabuzz, Ivysaur whipped them at his base which sent a shock wave through them. Using such a move as a Bulbasaur would like to help him dodge by sending him high into the air but being the heavier Pokemon meant he controlled who went where.

The shock waves reached Electabuzz and slightly lift him into the air before slamming him down into the sand, face first. That didn't sit right with the electric type, and he grabbed a hold of the vines with the Ice Punch's still activated. Ivysaur grunted in pain as his vines attempted to withdraw back to his plant as it is the natural reaction but Electabuzz held them tight, now he is the one in control.

With one mighty tug, Electabuzz pulled the grass poison type towards him. This might seem like an unlikely accomplishment, but you have to consider the likely hood that Electabuzz spars with Drake's Venusaur on a regular bases, which would obviously be heavier and stronger than Ivysaur.

"Leech Seed!" Ash shouted.

As Ivysaur was sent flying towards Electabuzz, he was able to adjust his body so the plant on his back was facing Electabuzz. A small brown seed appeared in the centre of the plant. When merely moments away from impact, Ivysaur launched the Leech Seed, it struck Electabuzz in the chest, having roots expand over his body as Ivysaur slammed into him.

Electabuzz was originally planning on striking Ivysaur with a powerful Ice Punch as he was helplessly flying towards him, but the Leech Seed caught him off guard thus him not launching the counter attack. In all honesty, the sight was something you'd expect to see in a cartoon. The end result was Ivysaur standing onto of the electric type, as if he used a make-shift Body Slam attack.

The Electric type didn't appreciate being made to look like an idiot and his eyes glew a light blue before the same colour energy surrounded Ivysaur, lifting him high into the sky. Electabuzz was using a Psychic attack. Standing up, now that he didn't have the weight of the grass poison type on his body, Electabuzz used his hands to start spinning Ivysaur around like a puppet master, this is just a little payback for making him look like an idiot before.

Drake shook his head with a light laugh at his electric type Pokemon. While definitely a strong Pokemon, he is very hot-headed and hates to be embarrassed on the battlefield. While his current antics of making Ivysaur dance in the air with Psychic aren't very mature or fitting for a champion, they are definitely helping win the battle as all that Psychic type energy can't be good for a poison type.

As he was being made to dance around the air, while also being crushed and hurt by the psychic type energy, Ivysaur was absorbing solar energy in secret. Ash caught onto this almost straight away but didn't make note of it, so they could launch a surprise attack.

Unfortunately, Drake isn't an idiot. He knows Ash wouldn't let his Pokemon be made helpless as he flew around and even if he hadn't come up with a way to escape the current predicament he would've shouted some support to his Ivysaur. It didn't take long for the champion to notice what Ivysaur was doing.

"He's gonna use Solar Beam!" Drake warned his electric type.

Electabuzz grunted in annoyance, he was enjoying his puppet show but guess he will need to get his revenge by beating the plant in a battle. Thrusting his arms forward, Ivysaur was sent high into the air until he was out of the Psychic range. Fortunately for him, the higher up he is the quick he is able to absorb solar energy so that last little pushed made the Solar Beam ready to fire.

Remaining calm thanks to his new battle style requiring him to keep a cool head under pressure, especially since it requires him to take a lot of hits head on, Ivysaur was able to position his body so the plant was facing Electabuzz... More or less since he was falling towards the ground.

Ivysaur launched the Solar Beam out of the plant on his back and it was on a direct path to strike Electabuzz. The electric type unleashed a massive Discharge attack in an attempt to protect himself as the Leech Seed drained more of his health. In the end the two attacks collided and created a sort of explosion, almost like a fertiliser bomb, which engulf Pokemon.

Black smoke covered both Pokemon, hiding the result of the battle. The only thing which could be made out was a loud thud which was obviously Ivysaur crashing into the field. It took about a minute before the smoke cleared and that was when the ref made his call.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle, the round is a tie." The ref declared. "Going into the final round, Drake shall reveal his Pokemon first.".

* * *

"Return Ivysaur and thank you." Ash recalled his fallen grass poison type. He smiled sadly at the Pokeball in his hand before clipping it back to his belt, now it has come down to one final battle, Ash has no-doubt about who Drake will use

"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Electabuzz as he recalled it to its Pokeball. Clipping it to his belt he turned towards Ash.

Up in the stands, Ash's friends are all happy with the turn of events. Leaf and Serena are on their feet shouting encouragement down to the raven-haired boy along with Togepi, they even heard some of the nearby spectators talking like Ash could become victorious.

"Despite making a few mistakes, he has actually made it to Dragonite with Aerodactyl still fresh." Drake commented thoughtfully. "He might actually stand a chance of winning this.".

"I know what you mean." Misty added. "Then again, this league is all about bonding with Pokemon and that always seemed to be natural to Ash.".

Serena smiled as she heard what her two friends were saying, they have been more critical of Ash's decision making during this battle but that is because they are also supporting him and just singing his praises wouldn't exactly help him improve. Honestly, maybe Serena could learn a thing or two from them.

"This battle has been filled with many twists and turns folks as it all comes down to this, the final matchup between the two trainers." The announcer informed as the crowd cheered. Taking this as their cue for the battle to continue, Drake unclipped the Pokeball hanging on the neckless around his neck.

"I have to say Ash, you are probably the most promising trainer I've battled as champion. So let's get on with our final round." Drake informed as he threw the Pokeball high into the air. "Go Dragonite!".

In a flash of light, a giant orange dragon Pokemon appeared on the battlefield before letting out a mighty battle cry. It was quite tall, easily looming over both Ash and Drake, with a fierce expression. Ash kept his cool and scanned his last opponent with his Pokedex:

 _Dragonite, The Dragon Pokemon. The final evolved form of Dratini. Dragonite is capable of circling the globe in just 16 hours. It is a kind-hearted Pokémon that leads lost and foundering ships in a storm to the safety of land._

"I choose you, Aerodactyl!" Ash shouted as he threw his Pokeball high into the air.

In a flash of light, the mighty dinosaur appeared on the battlefield, standing tall and proud before letting out a threatening roar. Seeing the pseudo legendary on the other side of the field, he smirked, this will be a good show for his strength. He entered a battle stance to match Dragonite.

"Dragonite VS Aerodactyl..." The ref declared. "Begin!".

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	24. Orange League - Hall of Fame

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the final part to the Orange League. Will Aerodactyl be able to Dragonite on a one on one battle? Will Ash win the Orange League and go down in the hall of fame? Will I stop asking you these questions and get on with the actual chapter? (wow, that was like a joke Haunter would make, guess it wouldn't be Ash's biggest battle yet without her somewhere in here). Anyway, remember to vote in the poll, which will change when Johto starts and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 24: Orange League - Hall of Fame_

"Dragonite VS Aerodactyl..." The ref declared. "Begin!".

As soon as the battle started, the two Pokemon let out mighty battle cries and shot into the air at high speeds. Quickly flying over the stadium, the two Pokemon started crashing into each other. Aerodactyl coated his head in metal, slamming it into the dragon, as Dragonite countered by slamming his wings into the dinosaur.

They trade three blows as they ascended high into the air, matching evenly in terms of power. While it is true a pseudo legendary would technically be strong as that is why it received the class in the first place, you can't deny the advantage literal billions of years of experience and training gives to Aerodactyl, meaning it makes complete sense that they are evenly matched.

After testing each other's strength by trading these blows back and forth, the two Pokemon came to a stop mid-air facing off against each other. Now that they have confirmed they are evenly matched, this will be unique opportunity for the two of them to test both themselves and their opponent.

"Extreme speed." Drake instructed.

Dragonite shot off from his current position and tackled Aerodactyl with great speed. Dragonite preformed a loop with Aerodactyl in a tight hold, which almost doubled their height as a result of the speed before they were shooting straight down towards the ground.

Aerodactyl was able to remain calm under the pressure he found himself in. He was the king of the sky back in the prehistoric time and he didn't earn that title for no reason. Opening his mouth, his fangs were covered in ice and he bite down hard on Dragonite's shoulder.

The super effective move momentarily made Dragonite loosen his grip, of course it was far from powerful enough for him to be taken down but never has an opponent been able to attack while using this move, which is why he was taken by surprise.

Although the surprise only lasted for a moment at most, it was enough for Aerodactyl to wiggle out of the grip to avoid the collision. Dragonite was also skilled enough to avoid the crash landing by using his wings as a sort of parachute, landing on the sand bed with a heavy thud on one knee.

Using Dragonite's emergency landing as an opening, two rings of rocks appeared around Aerodactyl before he shot them down on the Dragon Pokemon like a machine gun spewing bullets. He was using Stone Edge.

Dragonite didn't like the idea of getting hit by the rock type move and took a deep breath. The Dragon Pokemon breathed out a burning hot breath, beam-like attack dark blue dragon type energy. He used Dragon Breath. The dragon type move burnt the Stone Edge down into little more than a powder of dust.

Growling in anger, Dragonite clenched both his fists they were coated in electricity. The dragon flying type shot up towards Aerodactyl, aiming to land a powerful Thunder Punch. Dragonite knew this would be one of his strongest attacks against the dinosaur.

Being the experienced flier that he is, Aerodactyl was able to swipe to the left and avoid Dragonite's first attempt. Not being one to be disheartened, Dragonite quickly turned towards the rock flying type and charged once more. He continued to swing his Thunder Punch's at the dinosaur but Aerodactyl proved to have impressive dodging skills as he moved back.

Knowing he couldn't win by only dodging, Aerodactyl came up with a plan. After dodging the fourth consecutive Thunder Punch, Aerodactyl gave a few quick but mighty flaps of his wings and shot up out of Dragonite's reach.

The Dragon Pokemon roared before cancelling his Thunder Punch and shooting up towards Aerodactyl. After watching the two Pokemon battle some more, something interesting has been revealed. It appears that Aerodactyl is slightly faster than Dragonite but Dragonite is much more aggressive and packs more of a punch.

Although the two differences seem to balance each other out, Aerodactyl on the other hand has noticed a much more important difference. The fact that Dragonite is very much young and impulsive, that is his biggest weakness. Along with the advantage that Aerodactyl has with his experience.

Aerodactyl came to a stop directly above Dragonite who is flying directly below. He has a plan. Spreading his wings, the wind resistance which was built up around the Dragon proved just enough to push Aerodactyl out of the way slightly.

With them still being close enough, Aerodactyl grabbed hold of Dragonite's shoulders before the force blew him away. Using the momentum, the two Pokemon preformed a loop in the air although Aerodactyl was in full control. Using Dragonite's superior strength against himself. After doing a ninety-degree spin, Aerodactyl let go and Dragonite went falling towards the ground. Dragonite had enough time to adjust his flight partly and landed with the sand absorbing most of the force.

Drake saw the look in his Dragonite's eyes. They both know Aerodactyl is strong and skilled enough to handle any of their normal battle techniques, so the only option is to have a battle of pure power. This will be the true final showdown between the dinosaur and the Dragon.

"Dragonite... Use Hyper Beam." Drake instructed.

The crowd cheered as the heard the command for Dragonite's most powerful attack. The Dragon took a deep breath and dug deep as he built up for his most powerful attack. Both Ash and Aerodactyl realised those two wanted and were more than happy to take on this new challenge. The good thing about this showdown will be the battle will be decided quicker. Both the dragon and the dinosaur could battle like they have been all day.

"Giga Impact!" Ash shouted.

Aerodactyl roared as a power barrier formed around him. Acting quickly, he shot down towards Dragonite, who had just finished building up his power. With a mighty roar, the Dragon Pokemon unleashed a massive power beam out of his mouth.

It appeared that the Hyper Beam struck the Giga Impact head on, but the collision caused a blinding light which caused everyone to look away and shield their eyes to avoid being blinded. Ash took a look at Drake in this moment and for the first time in this battle he looked scared, as if now he truly wasn't sure he would win.

If someone dared to look towards the blinding light which was the collision point between the two powerful attacks, they would notice that it was slowing moving downwards towards the battle field. Although neither Pokemon were visible to make out if either were close to exhaustion.

An ear-piercing roar echoed throughout the stadium, but it was impossible to make out which of the battling brutes was the source of it. In all likely hood, both the dinosaur and the dragon roared at the same time, this was because the blinding light seemed to somehow get even brighter as it moved quicker towards the battlefield. The only fitting name to describe what it looked like was a shooting star.

As the light closed in on the ground, a powerful wind hit all those nearby. Sand was being blown everywhere as the wind travelled far, even those seated three rows in from the stadium centre had to protect against the hazard. Both Ash and Drake were unable to even look close to the battlefield to protect their eyes. Ash picked up Pikachu to help shield him from the sand. This was a true battle of wills and power.

In a flash of light, the brightly finally touched down and a massive explosion was the result. The shock wave caused by this was spread across the entire stadium and even further. It was even strong enough to crack some of the glass on the spectator box's windows.

Following the explosion was a deafening silence as everyone turned to look towards the battlefield in hopes of seeing who, if either Pokemon, were left standing. All that could be seen was a field of black smoke which just barely didn't cover both Ash and Drake as well. Speaking of the two trainers, both their feet and lower legs were now buried within the sand which was blown off the battlefield.

After about a minute the smoke filling the battlefield began to fade and revealed the silhouette of a Pokemon standing on the battlefield, slightly hunched over and clearly panting heavily. While the second silhouette was lying flat on the ground. Due to the smoke still being quite thick, no-body could make out which silhouette belongs to which Pokemon. Ever way, one thing was confirmed, one Pokemon was definitely able to battle while the other was out for the count.

As more time passed, the Pokemon who won was revealed. It was Aerodactyl. The dinosaur was smart enough back when using Giga Impact to not try a head on collision. If it was a head on collision than the explosion would've happened mid-air. Aerodactyl made it so the Hyper Beam was able to scrap the top of his attack which was still powerful enough to slow the Fossil Pokemon down.

Some might've thought completely avoiding the Dragon's attack would've been safer but that would've also have alerted Dragonite to his disadvantage and make him redirect his attack which would've lead to another issue. The Giga Impact completely covers Aerodactyl which means his flying skills are limited when using the move and he didn't want to risk Dragonite redirecting the Hyper Beam to the centre of his attack by trying to avoid it altogether.

As the rest of the smoke cleared, it revealed that Dragonite was on his back with swirls covering his eyes. Drake looked at his partner sadly, before a small smile appeared on his face as he looked at Ash, who seemed to be in shock. Now that both Pokemon's fates had been proven, the ref made his call.

"Dragonite is unable to battle, meaning the winner of this battle is the challenger Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." The ref declared.

* * *

"ooooooh." Was all that Ash could say as he stared blankly at his Rock Flying type.

"The challenger wins the match! The challenger wins the match! The challenger wins the match! The challenger wins the match!" The announcers cheered with excitement as the crowd joined in. "The challenger wins the match!".

On the screen which was showing the two trainers and keeping the audience up to-date on which Pokemon were and were not able to battle, a massive image of Ash appeared as pictures of all the Pokemon he used during the league also appeared. Ash was a little sad some of his other Pokemon who didn't get the chance to battle, like Primeape or Blastoise didn't show up but no matter what, he couldn't have used all of them.

"He actually did it." Misty uttered.

"They all did it." Leaf corrected.

"What do ya know." Drake added.

Serena was the only one to remain silent as she looked at her boyfriend with her eyes shining. She could almost laugh at his stunned look. He is so amazing. It may seem a little childish, but she has always seen Ash as some sort of cool hero, ever since he saved her in the Summer camp. Right now, she has to admit that he looks so cool and she couldn't be prouder of him.

"We won..." Ash uttered in total shock.

"Yeah, we did." Pikachu added in the same shocked state.

Ash continued to look at the battlefield with shock as Aerodactyl let out another powerful roar to demonstrate the power he currently has over his opponent, which is sort of a trait he picked up back in the prehistoric time, as it was proper battle educate, although granted he wouldn't leave his opponents alive but sometimes it is best to change with the times.

This roar snapped Ash out of his amazement and the raven-haired boy bolted out onto the field. Aerodactyl was too tired to really do anything considering the strain that power battle puts on the old timer, so he couldn't really do anything to stop Ash from giving him a big hug. He simply let out a small smile and rolled his eyes, he is anything but the affectionate type. He was sent to help prepare the kid for his role as the chosen one, which is why he has never had any disobedience problems but after spending all this time together, he has to admit Ash has grown on him.

Drake smiled at the sight of Ash and Aerodactyl, in a lot of ways Aerodactyl is like his Dragonite in terms of personality although Aerodactyl is clearly older and wiser as a result of that age. A Pokemon doesn't need to be openly affectionate to truly show off the bond between them and their trainer. During all of this league, Ash has shown to have strong relationships with all of his Pokemon, which is why he deserves this victory. Pulling the Pokeball off his neckless, Drake turned towards his fallen partner. Dragonite had regained consciousness but struggling to push himself up off the sandy field.

"Thank you, old friend. Take a nice long rest." Drake told his Dragonite as he recalled it to its Pokeball.

With the mighty dragon safe in his Pokeball, Drake went over to the referee and received a golden statue, the Orange League trophy, he then walked over to Ash with one final duty to perform on this field today. Upon seeing him approaching, Ash ended his celebration with Aerodactyl and Pikachu, turning towards the champion.

"After defeating the Orange League champion, Ash not only receives the Orange League winner's trophy but also goes down in the Pummelo Hall of Fame." The announcer informed as the crowd calmed down slightly, despite losing Drake still holds a lot of authority as he is still the champion after all.

"Ash, as proof of your victory here in the Orange League. It is my pleasure to present you with this." Drake told the raven-haired boy as he handed the golden trophy over. Ash smiled and gladly accepted the prize for his victory.

"Thank you, Drake." Ash thanked as he marvelled at the trophy in his hands.

"Unfortunately, Ash. I can't offer you the second prize. Normally you would be given the chance to take my place as the champion but to take on the role you need to be eighteen or older." Drake informed. "But you could be offered the place once you turn eighteen.".

"That's okay, Drake. I guessed the champion role has an age limit considering gym leader roles do as well." Ash replied. "And even if I could, I'd have to turn it down. We still have many more journeys to go on and friends to meet after all.".

"Hehehe, ya know Ash. You remind me a lot of myself at your age." Drake smiled at the young boy's enthusiasm. "I know you'll do great things wherever you go next.".

"Thanks Drake, it means a lot." Ash replied honestly.

"Now, before we go to the Hall of Fame. We need a photo of you and your team on the field." Drake informed.

"Sure thing." Ash replied. "But, do you mind if all my Pokemon can be in it? I couldn't have made it here without all of them, even though a few couldn't battle in the league itself.". Do to the removal of a carry limit during a league, Ash does have everyone with him still.

"That's shouldn't be an issue at all." Drake smiled, even now he is showing the bond between those that didn't even get a chance to battle with him.

"Allow me." Haunter appeared in front of Ash with a scarily large smile.

"Gwaa! Haunter, don't do that!" Ash commanded while in shock from her surprise appearance.

Haunter, being Haunter, didn't pay him any attention though and clicked her fingers. Suddenly, the tune from the Pokemon centre to tell trainers that their Pokemon have been fully healed and ready to be picked up, played. The psychotic ghost next used Psychic and released: Pidgeot, Ivysaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Gyarados, Muk, Primeape, Sandslash, Tauros, Dragonair, Lapras and Snorlax. Even those that had just been knocked out in the battle looked as good as knew.

"What sort of photo would it be if five of the Pokemon were injured?" Haunter asked the readers. "Now we just gotta get in the right placement.".

Somehow, she was able to triple her hands in size and quickly used them to pick up and move her fellow teammates, somehow even being able to move Snorlax with ease. How she can just disobey the laws of physics is anyone's guess. With the Pokemon lined up in three rows, the largest Pokemon like: Snorlax, Gyarados, Blastoise, Charizard, Aerodactyl and Pidgeot being at the back. Ash was in the middle row, directly in the centre with Pikachu on his shoulder, with the medium sized Pokemon, like: Primeape, Tauros, Lapras and Dragonair on either side of him to make up the middle row. Finally, the shorter Pokemon took the front row with: Ivysaur, Muk and Sandslash (who was keeping his distance from the other Pokemon).

Haunter decided to float above the group just in frame of the shot but she also decided to make the image a little more interesting by doing the 'draw me like one of your Kalos girls' pose.

"Ya see, the term is normally draw me like one of your French girls but because Kalos was based on France, this is keeping it in-universe." Haunter explained. "Plus, considering who Ash's mate is in this fic series, the 'Kalos girl' just makes things even funnier.".

"Haunter!" Ash shouted in a scolding voice.

Mumbling to herself, she floated down and joined the front row since it was the smallest of all the rows, not doing anything to 'improve' the image in anyway, or at least what she considers an improvement. Smiled at the ghost type, his own Gengar has been a handful from time to time but Haunter seems to be on a completely different level. Chuckling to himself, he took a camera out and took the photo of the latest Orange League victor.

"Let's hear it once more for the Orange League victor, Ash Ketchum!" The announcer shouted.

Ash looked around at all the people cheering for him. He had actually done it. No. They did it. He and his Pokemon worked extremely hard to make it this far and they succeeded. This was definitely one of the happiest moments of Ash's life right now. He knew it was cliché, but he almost felt like crying because he was so happy. He knew his mum probably was actually crying right now after seeing him win. He just did Pallet Town proud by winning the league. Ms. Yvonne, Mrs Green, Professor Oak, Daisy and Aunt Yellow had all probably watched and were cheering them on as well. It was possible Gary watched it too, but because he hasn't been answering his Pokegear number since leaving, it is just as likely that he didn't know Ash was competing. In the back of his mind, Ash briefly wondered if his dad had managed to see the battle, too. Ash sure hoped. Although it doesn't really matter, this was his time to shine. He breathed a sigh of contentment. It hardly got better than this.

* * *

To say leaving the stadium was difficult, was a massive understatement. As soon as Ash stepped foot outside of the trainer tunnel, he was bombarded with hundreds of new fans and news reporters for both TV and newspapers. One reporter had pushed her way to the front and shoved a microphone in Ash's face.

"Please, our views are dying to know. How did you win the tournament?!" The reporter asked.

"Umm, well. I guess I couldn't have done it without my amazing Pokemon or friends." Ash stuttered, not being used to all the attention he was receiving. Did all league winners have to go through this? In all honestly, it is a little overwhelming.

"Can I shock them?" Pikachu asked hopefully. All of the attention was getting on his nerve. One look from Ash gave Pikachu his answer. Pikachu pouted in response to the answer he got and groaned. "Your no fun.".

"How often do you train your Pokemon?" The report asked, seeing as she can't understand what Pikachu was saying.

"Umm, at least three hours on the days we are travelling but we take travelling breaks where we can train for most of the day." Ash replied with a little more confidence. "I also make sure to regularly rotate my team so they all get the right amount of attention and care.".

Through the crowd of fans and reporters, Ash's friends were able to push their way to the league winner. Leaf was leading the way through the crowd and once she reached the raven-haired boy, she gave him a bone crushing hug. Misty and Drake each stood behind and said their own congratulation although it was drowned out by the cheering crowd. Some were even surprised to see a boy who looks identical to Ash, apart from the outfit they were wearing.

"We love you, Ash!" A group of fan girls screamed as Serena finally made it to her boyfriend.

Not happy with what was just shouted to her boyfriend she grumbled something under her breath but smiled none the less, she did promise Ash not to get jealous if someone showed him attention after all. Although Ash wasn't fooled.

"I thought we agreed to trust each other." Ash whispered in her ear, as he greeted her with a hug.

"I do, I just didn't get the chance to congratulate you yet." Serena whispered back, pecking his cheek before standing by his side, interlocking their hands and looping her arm around his, this is a subtle but clear message to those fan girls that her boyfriend isn't available. The message was also noticed by the reporters.

"The champion has a girlfriend!" The reporter announced as she shoved the microphone into Serena's face. "What's it like to have a champion as a boyfriend? Give the champion a big kiss for the camera.".

"Urr, what?" Serena muttered, surprised she had become the centre of attention all of a sudden.

As Ash blushed bright red from being told to kiss Serena, not that he has a problem with the gesture in general, it is just doing it in front of all these people. He may have pecked her cheek but that was to calm her down and to shut the new fan girls up because he did promise her to be more supportive on such issues.

Luckily for the couple, help came to the rescue. A hand rested on Ash's shoulder as the person stood on his side opposite to Serena. Turning to the source, they found the Orange League champion, Drake. He probably just took his Pokemon to the medical bay in the stadium and wanted the raven-haired boy to have a taste of fame which comes with being a successful trainer.

Nodding his head at the reporters, they understood the silent message and moved aside, creating a clear walk way for the group to travel down. It appears that Drake holds a level of authority that the elite four and Blue hold back in Kanto. It was very impressive to watch.

Leading the way through the crowd was Drake, as they walked towards the small dome next to the stadium. It was still quite noisy so there was a sort of silent agreement for them to chat once in the building and away from the crowd.

* * *

It took the group around ten minutes to finally make it into the dome building next to the stadium. That may seem like a long time but that was because despite the crowd creating a clear walking for them to walk across, they couldn't cut across the grass for a short cut and the reporters still attempted to get some sort of comment from Ash or his friends.

The group sighed in content about finally escaping the crowd. Drake stood in front of the group of five kids and three Pokemon as he waited for their full attention and thanks to his aura which demands a certain level of respect, it didn't take long at all.

"As you can probably tell, this is the Orange League hall of fame." Drake informed. "With this being the lobby of the hall, this would normally be the cut off point for anyone who hasn't won the Orange trophy, but I am willing to make an exception for your friends here.".

"Oh, thank you." Serena thanked first before she realised none of them had been introduced to the champion. "My names Serena.".

"Good to meet you, Serena." Drake replied with a friendly smile. Although it soon faded as he waited for the others to be introduced.

"I'm Leaf." Leaf jumped up next, being the hyper-active girl, she is. She also grabbed Drake and pulled him forward. "This is Ash's twin brother, he's also called Drake and Marowak is his partner.".

"Well it's nice to meet you, Leaf." Drake chuckled at the brunette. Although that also quickly faded as he turned to the other Drake. "And same to you Drake.".

"Thanks." Drake smiled slightly as he waved his hand, if given the chance then he would've introduced himself, but Leaf just had to jump in like an Agility Pikachu high off sugar, does she ever calm down? Of course, he would never ask her in person, she is too scary to ask something like that.

"Guess that leaves me, I'm Misty." Misty introduced herself before things got awkward after the, whatever happened between Drake and Leaf.

"Pleased to meet you, Misty." Drake smiled at her once more. With the introductions over since he already met both Ash and Pikachu back on the battlefield, and Togepi is currently asleep so not in a position to meet someone knew.

With all the introductions done, Drake turned around to a pair of white double doors with some golden engraving to give off a sort of royal design. He walked up to them and took a key out of his pocket. First, he went over to the keypad on the wall to the right of the doors and typed in some sort of code before placing the key into the lock. Guess this place is big on security if it requires both a pass-code and key to enter.

Now both the alarm are turned off and the doors are unlocked, Drake pushed the double doors open with a smirk on his face. As they opened the group was met with an almost blinding light. As soon as it faded, they realised it was so bright because the second room was also completely white, looking closely you'd see that the walls are made out of marble although the outer building is just painted white. Around the outer wall were different stands which showed the different trainers of all ages and their Pokemon teams. A lot of them contained Pokemon from other regions which got Drake curious, so he turned to the champion of the same name.

"Not to sound rude but when Ash and I looked up your team on the league database, we noticed all your Pokemon were native to Kanto." Drake replied. "Why is that, I would've thought a champion would've been too more regions.".

"Huh?" Drake raised an eyebrow at the young man's detective skills, before a light smile fell on his face. "The truth is, I am from Kanto and although I competed in four leagues before the Orange League. All of them were the Indigo League. My dream was to make it as part of Kanto's Elite Four or Champion, so I based all my training in that one region. That was before I was offered the chance to take the Orange League on.".

In the centre of the of the room was a white marble pillar and some sort of computer. With his story over, Drake made his way over to this device before taking his camera out from earlier. He used a small wire to attach the two devices before typing away on the keyboard or using the mouse. After about a minute, he signified for the others to approach, since they had been checking out previous league winners.

"Ash, you are allowed to choose a free place around the edge, which will be your stand." Drake informed the raven-haired boy.

"Hmm, I'll choose over there." Ash pointed to a free space to the North-West.

"Now all we need is your signature." Drake told him as he handed a pen and moved to the side of the computer device.

Ash happily walked up to the device and noticed the layout was the same as the other stands with the image Drake took of all his Pokemon and a gold plate below the image with his name on. Seeing as all the other stands had the signature on the image, Ash also signed his name on the bottom right corner.

"So, do you come here often?" Misty asked the champion.

"I tend to come in maybe once year. I find it is a good place to reflect on how the last year and to get ready for when the league is coming up again." Drake answered honestly. He turned towards Ash as he remembered something else he had to tell the raven-haired boy. "Which reminds me, Ash. Seeing as you are a part of the hall now, you are allowed to visit whenever you like.".

"Cool, so do I get a key and the code?" Ash asked with clear excitement.

"Unfortunately, not, the keys are only for the current league champion and the PLA president." Drake informed. "If you wish to visit, you'll need to get in touch because one of us would have to accompany you. It's to avoid the keys being lost or stolen while you continue travelling.".

"That's okay, I understand." Ash smiled in response.

"Well the crowd should've disputed by now, so it should be clear for you to leave." Drake informed. "Sorry for the short time here but I have a few things to sort out now that the league is over.". Understanding the reasoning completely, the group did as he said and took their leave. Luckily, Drake was right about the crowd.

* * *

With still a few hours of the day left, the group split up to do their own thing. Misty took the chance to go and call Rudy now that the battle is over. Leaf dragged Drake off somewhere which could be classed as against his will, which left Ash and Serena together. It was Serena who made the suggestion that completely caught Ash off guard. Although with nothing else to do, and no excuse not to, he had no choice but to agree. Which is why they are currently shopping.

They stopped for an afternoon snack at a cafe and picked up a couple souvenirs for their mothers back in Kanto. Pummelo market was actually quite small, only having one for each type of store, like: jewellery, flower, sports, trainers stop ext. As the couple walked around, almost everyone stopped and took notice of Ash, while not swarming him like earlier, it was still a little embarrassing. Soon Serena came across the store she was looking for, the clothes store.

"Come on Ash, I want to pick out our outfits together for our next journey like we did back in the Indigo League." Serena pleaded as she gave Ash a cute look.

Ash's cheeks turned red before he sighed in defeat nodded to agree with plan. Although this has been much better than previous times they have been shopping, it might be because he is maturing but Ash is actually having quite a bit of fun with this activity. Serena was excited and ran into the store first, with Ash following shortly behind. As he passed through the door, a well-dressed man approached him.

"Good day, Mr Ketchum. May I say what an honour it is to have the league winner in my store." The man greeted Ash. Based on what he said, it is easy to assume that he is the owner of the shop. "Please, take this as a small gift from me and you may have a generous discount on your final order.".

Ash accepted the small box of the well-dressed man, with embarrassment, he doesn't want to seem rude and reject the gift, but does he really need all of this attention? The store owner took his leave as to not over crowd the league winner, it may seem weird that he is giving both the gift and discount to Ash, but you need to consider the fact that just by having the league winner in his shop, more customers will come in, so he is benefiting in the long run.

"What did you get Ash?" Serena asked. Ash smiled at her opened the small square box, so they could discover what the gift was together. Inside the box was medium length blue ribbon. It may seem small or weird, but it is still nice to be given the gift. After all, it is the thought that counts.

"It's a ribbon." Ash stated obviously.

"Cool, I bet that could make a good accessory." Serena smiled before turning to look around the store. "Come on, we don't have time to find some new outfits.".

Ash chuckled at his girlfriend's excitement, Serena has always been good with fashion, so it is no surprise she is excited to go clothes shopping especially since they need to be careful about how much they bring so their travels aren't slowed down. With a slight smile, he followed the honey-blonde girl into the store.

First thing they decided to do was look for Serena's outfit. After about ten minutes, Serena took what she found into the changing rooms to put her new outfit together. She came out soon after in her new outfit. She had a pink sleeveless dress that went down to her mid-thigh with a red sleeveless vest over it. She still wore her black knee-high socks, but she changed her shoes to brown boots and had changed her hat to a red hat which has a hint of pink to it.

"What do you think?" Serena asked her boyfriend, as she did a spin to show off her full attire.

"You look great Serena." Ash smiled as he took in her new appearance although something seemed a little wrong. "But, I think something is missing.".

"What's missing?" Serena asked sadly but also surprise. Normally when going clothes shopping, Ash would say she looks great even if the outfit makes no sense but while sad that her outfit was missing something, she was surprised that Ash is making more than just a nice comment.

Ash remained thinking for about a minute about what could be missing before he realised what it was. He walked up to his girlfriend and took the ribbon he received earlier. He took the deep sea blue accessory out of its box before he carefully tied it around her neck in a loose bow. Once he was happy with how it looked, he smiled at her and gestured towards the mirror.

"Perfect." Ash smiled as Serena looked at her new accessory. "What do you think?".

Serena looked at the little addition Ash made to her outfit with a happy smile as she placed her hand over her heart, it actually pulls the outfit together and was a great suggestion but the more importantly, Ash was the one to suggest it, proving her boyfriend is truly maturing ever so slightly. She turned towards Ash and planted a small kiss on his cheek, causing his cheeks to turn slightly pink.

"It's perfect, Ash. Thank you." Serena whispered. "I am going to get changed back to my normal clothes, why don't you go and start looking for a new outfit.".

Happy with the arrangement, Ash walked over to a different section of the store as Serena returned to the changing rooms. Searching through the different items on display, Ash was carefully taking his time to choose each item. Before Serena had returned, Ash pulled out several different items to go and try on. When he returned from the changing room in the outfit he put together, he found Serena waiting for him.

The first part of his outfit is the official Orange League hat, which is a similar style to the Indigo League hat just with a different symbol on the front. His jacket was a dark red, similar colour to the one Drake wore in Kanto, along with the medium length sleeves but the sleeves were black instead of white this time and the yellow lining on his Kanto jacket was also black. He had a new pair of gloves which were black red and black with a pair of black jeans and dark red trainers.

"What do you think?" Ash asked.

"It looks great." Serena smiled. While a little upset he will no-longer be wearing the outfit she put together for him, she has to admit it isn't that big of a deal and it is nice to see Ash really is starting to mature.

With both outfits put together, Ash changed back into his normal travelling clothes before going to pay for both outfits. Serena assured Ash she would pay for her outfit but to get the discount on her clothes it would have to go through with Ash's and paid together. Although once paid for, Ash didn't let Serena give some money back because he received a decent sized prize money gift for winning so he thought it would be nice to treat Serena with it.

* * *

It was late at night, Ash had just called Professor Oak and sent most of his team back to the lab because his time with the no-carry limit is over since the league is now over. His current team is: Pikachu, Pidgeot, Blastoise, Primeape, Sandslash and Lapras. With Pikachu as the obvious acceptation, Ash wanted to give those who battled today a break.

As he walked through the hotel he grabbed his Pokegear as it started vibrating. It was just after ten at night, who would be calling at that time? The caller ID revealed it was his dad, Red Ketchum. Answering the call, the screen lit up with his dad's face.

"Hi dad." Ash smiled.

"Hey Ash, did I wake you?" Red asked.

"No, I just sorted out the team with Professor Oak and heading to bed now." Ash explained.

"Either way, sorry for calling so late. It was the only chance I got to call, and I just finished talking with Drake." Red explained. "Although I did get to watch your battle today.".

"You did?" Ash asked. "How did you know I was even battling?". He had hoped his dad watched but he never got in contact while on Pummelo so how did is dad learn about his battle?

"Drake called me yesterday, he wanted to make sure I knew." Red explained. "Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch your previous battles.".

"That's okay, it's good to know you watched today." Ash replied. "Plus, you'd be glad to know both Drake and I are getting on better than ever. We have both learned a lot from each other.".

"What did I tell you, it has only been three months give or take but you can both see a difference." Red explained. "Your two sides to the same coin.".

"Yeah..." Ash chuckled lightly. "But it might not last forever, we have decided to split up our travels again for our next journey since we will both be competing in whichever regional league it is...".

"And you're scared your relationship will convert back to how it was?" Red guessed.

"... Yeah." Ash admitted.

"I wouldn't worry, Ash. When you split up at the start of your first journey, you and Leaf still maintained your sibling-like friendship." Red explained. "Now that you both understand each other, it would take a lot for you to revert to how you were.".

"Thanks dad, that helps a lot." Ash smiled, followed quickly by a yawn. "Sorry dad, guess I am tired.".

"Its fine, Ash. Sleep well." Red replied before a smirk grew on his face. "You wouldn't want to keep Serena, after all.".

Ash blushed bright red as the screen faded to black. How did his father know about the new sleeping arrangements? Did Drake mention it to him? Probably not, Drake said he would keep it secret and even back when they didn't get along, Drake would stick to his word. Maybe it is something to do with aura.

Walking to the room he shares with Serena, he managed to push the blush away. In all honest, it isn't a massive problem that Red knows as they aren't really doing anything wrong. By the time Ash reached the room, he had managed to get rid of his blush.

He entered the room to find Serena in her nightwear on the bed reading a magazine. Turning to see who just entered, she smiled and closed the magazine. Pikachu was already asleep on the chair with Eevee, and Togepi was asleep on the bedside table.

"There you are, I was being to think you got lost." Serena smiled as she sat up. Ash approached her and planted a small kiss on her cheek before responding.

"Sorry, my dad called on the way back." Ash explained. "You didn't have to wait up, ya know.".

"I know." Serena smiled. "I wanted to.". In all honesty, she would struggle to fall asleep even if she tried as she has gotten used to having Ash to cuddle up to.

"Well give me a couple minutes to get ready and I'll be right back." Ash told her with one more peck before going into the bathroom.

It didn't take him long to change into his nightwear or preform his normal night-time routine. Once done he walked back into the main room and sat on the bed next to Serena who wasted no time in leaning against him and sighing in content.

"Serena..." Ash tried to speak but he was instantly shushed by his girlfriend.

"Don't talk, Ash. This is our last night here, so let's just cuddle and enjoy it." Serena replied with her eyes closed.

Ash smiled at her and pecked her cheek, happy to fulfil her request. He carefully guided her to a lying down position before pulling the quilt over them. Serena made sure to adjust so her head was on Ash's chest as he wrapped his arm around her. This may seem a little childish, but Ash has become like her big cuddly teddy bear at night. Although before either of them could fall to sleep, Serena pushed herself up and crashed her lips into Ash's for a long goodnight kiss.

"Sweet dreams, my champion. Love you." Serena whispered as she returned to the cuddling position.

"Love you too." Ash smiled as he blushed at the 'my champion' part.

Tomorrow they need to set off for Tangelo island to get there cruise back home, it should take about three full days of swimming on Lapras which will be their last chance to look for her family. Despite having a plan in place in case they don't run into her family, it would be nice for the transport Pokemon to get some closure on that part of her life, which is why they will be looking just as hard as they have been. Hopefully everything will turn out for the best for the water ice type.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time..._**


	25. The Pirate Pokemon Poachers

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here it is, the final part of the Orange Island arc and the long-awaited fate of Lapras. Expect dark things a head, I have had her fate decided from the very beginning. I hope you enjoy it, I am guess it will get a mixed response at best. Remember to vote in the poll, it changes when Johto starts and with that, let's begin..._**

* * *

 _Chapter 25: The Pirate Pokemon Poachers_

 _It is a dark and stormy night; powerful winds are slicing through the rippling sea water as large bolts of lightning strike dangerously close to the large bodies of water. Accompanying this, an endless amount of rain is drizzling down at record breaking speeds. This is one of the worst storms to hit the Orange Archipelago this year, and it has turned the once peaceful oceans into hazardous death traps. All boats in the vicinity have been docked until further notice._

 _Unfortunately, that doesn't mean everyone is safe. Far out in the devastating storm is a herd of about thirteen Lapras. They are normally in tune with the weather and don't need to worry about running into these types of storms but not today. Earlier they found a large man-made ship in their planned route for this section of their journey. Being peaceful creatures, they made a detour rather than attempt to fight their way through._

 _But that is what put them into this situation before. By going off on their normal path to avoid the humans, they don't know the area they are travelling through. It is only made worst by the fact that they are led by the underwater currents, as a guidance but that can't even use them now._

 _While the head Lapras didn't mention this to anyone in his group, not even his partner or daughter, he is scared. He has seen a ship like that before, back when he was a young mon. While he can't be sure it is the same one, he knows it is looks similar and what that one is about. While it may seem weird that Lapras as a species attempts to avoid humans, it is because of years of hunting which humans have done against them._

 _He saw a boat like this back when he last saw his mother. She was the head of the group he first belongs to. They saw this as a normal human boat and just continued on their normal path. It wasn't long until the people on this boat opened fire on their squad but because Lapras are peaceful species, they weren't ready to fight back or defend themselves. He was the only one able to get away as his mother did her best to defend him._

 _After that horrific experience, he spent a countless amount of time out on the strange oceans where he trained himself, so he wouldn't have to go through a similar experience again. Eventually, he bumped into another herd of Lapras who welcomed him in. Despite being friendly, he couldn't open up to them about what happened. He also had a bit of an anger problem, trying multiple times to take over the group through a show of strength._

 _This was when the second herd he belonged to was attacked by a ship of similar design. The leader at the time planned to navigate the squad around it, to avoid all contact with the ship but he wanted his revenge. Trying to attack the ship by himself, the squad leader led the group to save him. Despite his best efforts, he was knocked out during the battle and sent to the bottom of the water. When he awoke, both the boat and squad were gone... and it was all his fault._

 _He continued to travel the oceans by himself. Avoiding all sorts of interaction with people and Pokemon alike. One has caused the suspected death of countless friends and his own mother while he might as well of taken the others' lives along with the people. He had truly reached the lowest point one could reach._

 _Many years of travelling alone sent him through a very tough journey of self-discovery. He no-longer wanted his revenge on those who attacked him and his squad, he didn't want anything. One day, he found another Lapras around his age, alone and surrounded by an angry looking Tentacruel. Seeing as he kept up his training over those years, as he had nothing else to do, he was able to fight the water poison type off and save this female Lapras._

 _She explained how she was separated from her herd and ended up where she met him. With nothing else to do, and not wanting to be responsible for ruining another life, he agreed to escort her back to her herd. Knowing that Lapras follow the currents under the water, he has become adapt to reading them, so he could avoid all interactions with those of his same kind after what happened to the last group that let him in._

 _It took a couple of days but the two Lapras found the herd which the female belonged to. Turns out, her father also leads their group and had been looking for his daughter, so he was obviously grateful to the new Lapras. Despite his many attempts to just go off on his own again, the group wouldn't let him leave and welcomed him as one of their own._

 _Over time, he fell in love with the female Lapras who he saved. She was a free spirit and his exact opposite in every way. He even got close enough to the point that he could reveal his past to her, but she still accepted him as that Lapras he told her about was not the one she has gotten to know and love._

 _As time went on, the leader of the squad became too old to properly lead the group and appointed his adoptive son as his replacement. While reluctant at first, his partner and the squad all welcomed him as their leader. Unfortunately, his partners parents both passed away of natural causes which was a tough time but soon he and his partner was blessed with a young daughter. Considering how bad his life started out, this was everything he could've asked for._

 _Although his past demons still haunted him. He made sure his daughter and the rest of his herd knew about the dangers of man-kind, never risking a populated island or any sort of man-made boat. Which is what lead them to being caught in this storm, and to him losing his daughter as a result._

 _Flashback end..._

* * *

It has been two days since Ash's battle with Drake where he became the winner of the Orange league. The next day they set off on Lapras' back towards Tangelo Island where they would board a cruise boat back to Kanto.

They left Pummelo shortly after preparing their teams which will stick until they get back to Kanto. Ash brought: Pikachu, Pidgeot, Blastoise, Primeape, Sandslash and Lapras. Serena brought: Delphox, Beedrill, Kadabra, Kingdra, Eevee and Magneton. Misty brought: Starmie, Seaking, Tentacruel, Psyduck, Vaporeon and Poliwag. Drake brought: Charizard, Pinsir, Jolteon, Machamp, Marowak and Ponyta. Leaf brought: Venusaur, Clefable, Flareon, Dewgong, Fearow and Arbok.

Currently, it is night time with shining stars filling the sky as the group are on Lapras' back. They have been almost all day, simply because Lapras has been sure that she can sense her school somewhere close by. They have been searching for the best part of seven hours, even Pidgeot, Blastoise, Beedrill, Kingdra, Starmie, Seaking, Tentacruel, Vaporeon, Charizard, Dewgong and Fearow set out across the water or sky respectively to see if they could spot the other Lapras. Unfortunately, none of them had much luck while looking for not only the herd of transport Pokemon but any wild Pokemon in the area. It's a little unnerving.

Misty looked ready to fall asleep as she cuddled her knees. Leaf yawned as she looked at how Serena was leaning against Ash, quickly glancing to her right, she spotted Drake next to her as held Marowak who was also asleep. With a smirk, she put her plan into action.

Leaf slowly began to lean her head in Drake's direction. Giving him a quick glance to see if he was giving off any sort of reaction. He wasn't, Drake hadn't even spotted her actions yet. He was too busy rubbing Marowak's head. Leaf kept creeping closer towards Drake's shoulder. She began to blush furiously as she was almost there! Until...

"Hey Ash, we aren't going to find anything now the sun is gone." Drake told his brother, moving even so slightly to face him.

Unfortunately for Leaf, she had already leaned too far by the time Drake had moved. She missed his shoulder and fell on her side, luckily not into the water but she missed her chance to cuddle with Drake. The others looked towards her with confused looks. Leaf sat up and blushed, as she lightly chuckled sheepishly. The others decided to leave the brunette alone as that could be quite embarrassing, so Ash turned towards the Transport Pokemon.

"Hey Lapras..." Ash spoke to the young water ice type. She turned around and looked at the raven-haired boy with a hopeful expression while patiently waiting for him to speak. He currently has Serena, leaning on his shoulder possibly asleep along with both Togepi and Pikachu asleep. "I am sorry, but I don't think we will have much chance of finding them with the sun down. I think we will be best getting sleep on that island we passed and searching again tomorrow.".

Lapras had her eyes become watery as she looked down, even since she first sensed the other Lapras nearby, she has been so excited at the chance of finding her family, but she can't deny that Ash has a good point. It is best to rest for the night and start searching with the sunlight tomorrow. While sad that she hasn't found them when being so close, she trusts Ash who promised to do everything he could to reunite them.

"Okay Ash..." Lapras sighed sadly before she turned her body towards the deserted island they passed not too long ago.

While a populated island is somewhere close by and it has a Pokemon Centre, it is just quicker and easier for them to reach this island where they have to camp out because it is closer, and they actually know where it is, meaning they don't need to go searching for a new place or explore for the Pokemon centre. Plus, they would be right in the same area where Lapras sensed them when they restart the search tomorrow.

It didn't take them long to find the small island and once they did, they set up three tents, Ash and Serena were sharing one, Drake had one to himself which leaves the last one for Misty and Leaf. Taking turns to change into their nightwear, it was rather quite as everyone was tired. Soon everyone was quite in their respective tents with Lapras asleep in her Pokeball.

In Ash's and Serena's tent, Eevee had let herself out to cuddle up with Pikachu as Togepi took up Ash's backpack for his own bed. Serena rested her head on Ash's chest as they wrapped their arms around each other, she turned to see Ash's face since he hasn't yet given her the normal goodnight kiss, only to find out he has a sad expression on his face. Something is clearly bothering him.

"What's wrong, Ash?" Serena asked.

"Huh?" Ash questioned as he turned towards her. "Nothing, just thinking.".

"About?" Serena urged him.

"Something Drake mentioned earlier." Ash replied. "Lapras is the only one to sense her family, which would normally make sense since they are the same species but even with all our other Pokemon looking, we didn't find any clue to their whereabouts. Drake thinks they might not even be close to where we are.".

"He thinks Lapras is lying?" Serena asked.

"Not lying, but more wishful thinking." Ash explained how his brother explained it to him. "She truly believes her family are close by but not because they are, because she knows this is our last chance to find them.".

"What do you think about it?" Serena asked.

"It's possible..." Ash sighed. "But I don't know how we would mention it to Lapras, especially if she is convinced they are close by. And I did promise we wouldn't give up on our search.".

"I know we will make through it, Ash. You just need to trust Lapras, whether its knowing her parents are nearby or accepting the truth." Serena reassured.

"Thanks Serena, you're the best." Ash smiled as he leaned down to give her a quick kiss, catching her off guard. As Ash withdrew, Serena registered what he did with a slight pink in her cheeks. "Sweet dreams, love you.".

"Love you too, Ash." Serena giggled happily as she nuzzled her head into his chest. It seems no-matter how often she hears Ash say it, it always gives Serena the same warm bubbly feeling in her stomach.

* * *

The next morning the group woke up a little bit late due to the late night. Serena, Leaf and Misty took charge of getting their breakfast ready as Ash and Drake took on the task of releasing everyone's Pokemon and feeding them. Soon everyone was sat eating breakfast and chatting.

"So, what are we gonna do today?" Misty asked.

"We still have Lapras' family to look for." Ash pointed out.

Drake gave his brother a serious look, as if to remind him about the thing he mentioned yesterday. Ash sighed at the look, while not easy he will need to speak with the young Pokemon today, as well. Lapras was looking out across the water with a longing expression, clearly still sensing her family nearby. Ash sighed and turned back to the others, he wanted to make sure Lapras wouldn't hear what he was going to say next.

"I also think we need to split up..." Ash whispered. "I'll go with Lapras, so we can speak alone.". The others could tell it was a serious matter and didn't try to argue.

"I'll fly around on Charizard's back." Drake informed.

"I'll go with Tentacruel." Misty added.

"Serena, do you want to fly with Pidgeot?" Ash suggested. "I know Kingdra isn't big enough for you to ride and stay out of the water.".

"I would, thank you Ash." Serena replied before quickly pecking his cheek.

"I'll fly on Fearow." Leaf informed. After the embarrassing fail last night, she isn't going to suggest she rides with Drake now. Besides, she tried that back when they were leaving Kanto for the first time and he got out of it because his Charizard apparently doesn't like anyone other than Drake riding him. Urg! Why can't Drake just confess his never end feelings for her?

Breakfast moved by pretty quickly and soon everyone was finished. It didn't take long for them to pack everything up and return all the Pokemon except for those who could help in the search. Ash was about to approach Lapras, after clipping the last Pokeball to his belt but the transport Pokemon was staring off over the ocean once again. Out of no-where, she let out a delightful cry before zooming across the water.

"Lapras?!" Ash called out, but it was useless.

"Maybe she has actually found the herd." Drake suggested as he jumped onto his Charizard's back, along with his Marowak. Almost instantly, he signalled his starter and the three took off after the transport Pokemon.

Misty quickly jumped onto her Tentacruel and they took off after Lapras, leading the other Water Pokemon who were going to help with the search. Leaf also jumped onto her Fearow's back which quickly lead to them taking off and joining the chase. Ash wasted no time in running up to his Pidgeot, who already had Serena on her back. He jumped in front of his girlfriend, since he has more experience in flying with the female bird. To secure herself, Serena wrapped her arms around Ash's stomach, as the raven-haired boy signalled Pidgeot to take off.

Despite taking off last, Pidgeot is faster than the other flier and was able to easily take the lead. It was easy for them to find Lapras who stopped in the middle of the ocean. She also appeared to be talking to another Lapras, although it likely wasn't either of her parents. For starters, this Lapras was around the same size as Ash's suggesting they are the same age and the unnerving part is, Lapras are meant to travel in large groups but there isn't any other Pokemon, let alone another Lapras.

"Take us down, Pidgeot." Ash instructed before adding. "Carefully, we don't want to scare the other Lapras.".

Pidgeot nodded in understanding, she has been taking on more of a motherly role since evolving so she understands how a young Pokemon could be scared off by a much larger Pokemon even if she isn't going to hurt them and that isn't even getting onto what they would think of humans after how Lapras first reacted.

Being sure to move quietly with gentle movements, Pidgeot slowly descend towards the two Lapras. Unfortunately, seeing the large bird with two humans approach startled the wild Lapras to quickly turned around and swam off. Ash's Lapras attempted call out.

"Wait! What happened to my mama and papa?!" Lapras called out but the other Lapras didn't show a sign of hearing her. Seeing as she got no response, she turned towards Ash, Serena and Pidgeot with a saddened expression.

"Lapras, what did that other Lapras say?" Ash asked.

"She... She said they were attacked." Lapras sobbed. "By a human boat and that she escaped as the other Lapras thought them off.".

"I'm sorry, Lapras." Ash replied as he welcomed her with a comforting hug. He suddenly had a thought. "Didn't you say the reason your group changed your route the time you were split up by the storm was because of a human boat?". As the others moved closer seeing as the other Lapras was scared off.

"Huh?" Lapras questioned. "Yeah, why?".

"Well we both assumed it was a passenger boat which was at the wrong place at the wrong time." Ash replied. "But seeing as another boat has showed up, maybe it isn't so. Lapras, what did the boat you avoided look like?".

"Um, well it looked old. Made out of some sort of wood." Lapras explained as she thought back to that horrible time. "And it had big white sails.".

"Old, wooden with sails?" Ash repeated as his face turned grave.

"What is it?" Lapras questioned.

"That doesn't sound like any sort of cruiser ship used now-a-days." Drake answered the grim question. "That sounds like a pirate ship, and also the kind of ship poachers use when hunting sea based Pokemon.".

"What are you saying?" Lapras asked with a croaking voice as fresh tears appeared in her eyes.

"I think if we are going to have a chance of finding your family then we need to find that ship." Ash admitted. "But the good news is Lapras, most poachers sell what they hunt to trainers, so chances are your family is being held somewhere just waiting for us.".

Lapras seemed to smile at this, when she first heard them mention poachers, she was scared they would've hurt her family but knowing most of them sell the Pokemon for battle is a little reassuring.

Ash climbed onto the Transport Pokemon before the group set off in search of this new target. Everyone failed to notice Drake sigh after hearing what Ash said to Lapras. While most Pokemon are hunted by poachers for the sole purpose of being sold to battle, Lapras are different since their meat is known as a delicacy. If these are poachers they are dealing with, the chances the Lapras are alive just dropped considerably.

* * *

Nearly three hours later, the group had long since split up to cover a wild area in search of the ship but so far, no luck. With each passing moment, Lapras has worse fears about what could be happening to her parents. She has burst into tears on at least three occasions while searching, despite all the time Ash has put into helping her, the countless hours training, she is still just as useless now as she was back then.

"It's okay, Lapras. We are closer now than ever." Ash soothed the water ice type with a hug. "Before ya know it, you will be back where you belong.".

Lapras stopped crying but didn't attempted to break up the embrace. Where she belongs? She obviously misses her parents and wants nothing more than to see them again but is that where she belongs? She has only gotten stronger while with Ash, she has learnt to battle and new moves. If she goes back to her parents, will everything go back to how it was? Will everything she's learnt while with Ash and the growing she has done with him be for nothing?

"Seaking?" Ash questioned as he saw Misty's water type appear. Lapras left the embrace to turn towards the Goldfish Pokemon, she can continue this mental debate later, right now her first and only thought should be finding her parents. "What are you doing here?".

"Misty found the ship, and she sent a few of us out to find the others and lead you back." Seaking explained in kind of a rush, which Ash picked up on.

"She didn't try to take them on by herself, did she?" Ash asked with clear concern.

"No." Seaking replied. "But in case you failed to notice, there aren't too many good hiding places in the ocean. And I am pretty sure a group of poachers would notice a group of rare water types next to their boat sooner or later.".

"Good point." Ash replied. "Lead the way, Seaking.".

The water type wasted no time in turning around and racing back the direction she travelled down. Likewise, Lapras was quick to follow the Goldfish Pokemon as she had a look of determination cross her face. She will save her parents.

* * *

As Ash and Lapras appeared where Seaking lead them, they gasped at what they saw. In the water was most of the groups Pokemon: Blastoise, Kingdra, Dewgong, Starmie, Tentacruel, Vaporeon and even Seaking had joined in their fight. They were attacking the boat that matched the description of what the other Lapras gave them.

In the air was the flying types like: Pidgeot, Charizard and Fearow, launching what attacks they could to support their water-based teammates as the ship fired at the different Pokemon, with the intent to kill. Using the old styled cannon balls, which were causing many explosions.

Looking onto the deck, Ash could make out his friends: Serena, Misty, Drake and Leaf, fighting of men and Tentacruel who appeared to be dressed like pirates, but the bad part is, they are clearly out numbered. They haven't been able to release many of their Pokemon, only: Kadabra, Psyduck, Marowak and Clefable, due to the sheer number of how they are being out numbered. Ash wasted no-time in placing Togepi in his backpack, the young fairy type doesn't need to see this.

"Lapras, think you can get us close enough to the boat?" Ash asked as he gestured to both himself and Pikachu. He would never ask her to do something she is uncomfortable with but right now she is his only hope of getting close enough, so he can help his friends. It is clear a peaceful solution isn't going to be accepted.

Looking at the chaos in front of her, Lapras was rightfully scared. Her fellow teammates are being thrown around as they struggle to avoid the dangerous cannonballs as they fight for their lives. They are clearly older and stronger than she is, how could she hope to handle it? Although, a strange feeling soon took her mind off the chaos, a feeling she has been longing for, the presence of her mother is nearby.

She seems to be emanating from the ship and also appears to be very weak. Knowing she is in a position to help her mother, she let out her best battle cry before zooming into the chaos. Yes, it is dangerous but Ash, Dragonair and the others have been so nice, helping her get stronger. How could she look at herself again if she just gave up in what could possibly be the biggest fight of her life?

Seeing as Lapras is rushing into the battlefield at her top speed, Ash had to get ready as the closer they got to the boat, the more dangerous it became. Standing up as he adjusted to her increased speed, it was like back at Cissy's gym all that time ago, when he partook in the Pokemon wave rider race with Gyarados. Difference is, this is a lot more dangerous.

Swerving side to side, Lapras dodged the first few cannonballs which came in their direction, but Ash had to hold on as he was almost thrown off because of the sudden change in momentum. Another cannonball came directly over the Transport Pokemon, hitting the water behind her. While the explosion was mostly caught by the water, it did send Lapras and her passengers flying, ending up at the base of the ship with no-way to climb up.

"Lapras, Pikachu, are you both alright?" Ash asked, he would've checked on Togepi as well, but this is no time or place to get the young fairy type out. Both Pokemon responded positively to the question despite being a little shook up.

Seeing as they are currently out of the firing range because of the positioning of the cannons, Ashe took the chance to look around for anyway to climb up. There wasn't any. Hearing his friends call out as they battled just above him, Ash's eyes had a hint of blue aura enter them. Closing them for a second, he clenched his fist and pushed the power back down. Opening them again, he knew he had only one way to make it aboard the ship.

"Lapras, think you can use your Psychic move and lift me & Pikachu up to the deck?" Ash asked. While not ideal as Lapras isn't close to mastering the move and she only just took the explosion, it's not like they have another choice. "Please Lapras, once we're up. You can stay her, away from the cannons but we can't do anything while stuck down here.".

Feeling her mother's presence stronger than ever made Lapras make up her mind. Ash promised he would help reunite them and he hasn't let her down yet. Taking a deep breath, she focused as hard as she could. Her eyes glew light blue with psychic type energy as the light blue waves surrounded Ash and Pikachu. Slowly, the raven-haired boy and electric mouse were lifted high towards the deck.

As they reached the side railing, Lapras lost her concentration. Psychic is one of the hardest moves to use, after all. The light blue psychic type energy surround Ash and Pikachu disappeared but the Kanto native had fast reactions. He grabbed hold of the railing, as Pikachu clutched to his shoulder. Grabbing it with his second hand shortly after, Ash pulled both himself and his partner up onto the deck.

Now they got a good look at the battlefield, despite several Tentacruel being scattered about the deck with swirls in their eyes, the sheer number of Jellyfish Pokemon clearly outnumbered his friends. It seemed for everyone on of his friends, there were at least six Tentacruel. Ash could also get a good look at who they were fighting against. Five middle-aged men dressed as pirates were on the deck. Two of them were handling the cannons while two more directed the Tentacruel. One, presumably the leader, stood at the back as he over saw the chaos with an evil smirk. No-doubt he thinks he has already won.

"About time you showed up." Drake joked as he spotted his brother finally making it to the battle. "If it's not too much to ask, a little help would be pretty useful right now.".

Ash's eyes glew blue with a light aura glint as he smirked in his brother's direction, despite trying to push it down previously it is still clearly trying to come out since its primary role is to protect the creatures on this planet. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!".

Jumping up into the air, Pikachu felt Ash's aura resonate within him, boosting his power high above what it has ever been before. With a mighty battle cry, the electric type unleashed a massive electrical bolt across the swarm of Tentacruel. Surprisingly, it seemed to magically avoid Ash's friend's Pokemon, almost like the aura had purposely protected them.

As the attack came to an end, Pikachu landed while sparking his cheeks as a sign that there is plenty more where that came from. Following his threat, the swarm of jellyfish Pokemon fell over with swirls in their eyes. Ash realised what happened and shook his aura away once again, he can't lose control again.

"All hands Abaft and protect the cargo!" The leader instructed before disappearing down the one door into the ship. Soon three more of pirates ran through the same door. The last one ran through the last door, slamming it shut but his shadow could be seen through the 'windows' to show he is standing guard.

While not a good situation, it at least meant their water types were safe but now that they are at the disadvantage, no-doubt they are going to try and finish the job meaning the group has to act fast. Luckily, Drake has a plan.

"First thing, we need someone to go and get Officer Jenny." Drake informed. "Pidgeot is the fastest, so you should ride on her.".

"I'll do it." Leaf volunteered. It makes sense she would simply because she has the least battle experience out of all of the group and that goes for her Pokemon as well. The two twins both partook in the Indigo League, Serena has earned the Grand Duchess rank at the battle chateau and Misty is a gym leader to be, after all.

Ash whistled loudly to signal Pidgeot to land, upon landing Leaf jumped onto her back as Ash explained what they were going to do. Pidgeot nodded in understanding as Leaf got ready. With her passenger secure, Pidgeot shot off towards the closest populated island, seeing as Leaf doesn't know how to properly guide her.

"Laaaaa!" Lapras cried out.

"What's up with Lapras, Ash?" Serena asked.

"She can sense her mother nearby." Ash explained.

"I guess we know what the cargo they were talking about was." Drake admitted in a dark tone. "We need to act fast.".

"What do you suggest?" Misty asked.

"Ash, Serena and I storm the door with one Pokemon each. I'm gonna say, Sandslash, Beedrill and Pinsir since special attacks would be contained in the corridor. As for you, Misty. Stay on deck to watch the other Pokemon who are already battle worn and to explain to Officer Jenny when they arrive." Drake explained.

While not the best plan, it is the only one they have and knowing what the pirates do to the Lapras, they can't afford to waste another moment. It might seem weird that Misty is being left out since she is a gym leader in training, but all her team is already battle worn since they were either in the water: Starmie, Seaking, Tentacruel and Vaporeon. Psyduck was battling the Tentacruel on deck and Poliwag doesn't have any battle experience so it makes sense she takes on this role.

The three trainers lined up with the door and released the three respective Pokemon. Upon appearing, Drake explained the situation to the three Pokemon who nodded in understanding. Knowing all charging at once would likely cause them to crash into each other, Drake stepped up again, having Pinsir use Submission on the door, knocking it and the guard on the other side down. With the others quickly following him inside.

* * *

As the group continued down the corridor quietly, they couldn't help but notice how silent the whole place seemed to be, it just gave the whole place an unsettling feel. Although that silence passed as they approached a corner where they could hear voices laughing. It sounded like two of the pirates at most.

"We can't waste any time, they could attack at a moment's notice, so we need to strike first." Drake whispered as he made as little sound as possible.

"Beedrill, you're the fastest here. How about a Poison Sting?" Serena whispered to her bug poison type.

The Poison Bee Pokemon nodded his head while being as quiet as possible, he has been itching for some battle action for a while. Turning towards the corner, his wings started to beet faster as that affects his speed. Unfortunately, that also causes him to make a buzzing sound which he can't stop.

"Huh, what's that?" One of the guards asked. Considering they are meant to be pirates, that wasn't very pirate-y. Maybe not all of them are into the role as originally thought. "Let's go and check it out.".

Knowing he had to act fast, Beedrill did a side sweep in the air so he would be facing the pirates as he appeared around the corner. As soon as he flew in front of the two pirates, Beedrill unleashed a barrage of purple stingers out of his bottom stinger. While not aiming at first as it took a second for him to registrar where the two guards were, it didn't take him long to slightly adjust his aim, so the majority of Poison Sting's struck the two guards.

After about ten seconds, Beedrill knew Poison Sting is his only ranged move but due to him being more a physical attack it would take ages for the build up to inflict enough poison for a result and time is one thing they don't have. As the poison sting kept the guards at bay, Beedrill's two arm stinger's glew purple as he powered up a Poison Jab, but not to his full power.

Quickly ending the Poison Sting attack, Beedrill zoomed forward before the guards had a chance to recover. As he flew between the two guards, he pricked them with his stinger's, in their shoulders before injecting them with some toxins. The guards didn't have time to react, only screaming in pain before passing out.

Seeing as everything went quiet, the trainers and other Pokemon walked around the corner to see Beedrill hovering over the two unconscious guards. Needless to say, Serena was concerned when she saw what Beedrill did considering the anger issues back when he first evolved, especially after seeing what Ash's Sandslash is like with anger issues. It is one thing which is cause for concern.

"Are they..." Serena tried to ask but her voice got stuck in her throat.

"Unlikely." Drake replied, as he kneeled down next to the bodies and checked for a pulse. "Beedrill's have great control over the amount of toxins they release with any poison attacks. He used just enough to knock them out, maybe make them ill, but it won't cause any serious damage.".

Serena sighed in relief, despite the horrible things they have seen on this boat so far, she wouldn't want to do something like that even indirectly since it is her Pokemon who would've done it. Besides, she wants them to be brought to justice, so they can pay for what they have done. With only two members of the crew left to take on, the group continued on. Little did they know; the worst is yet to come.

* * *

The group continued down the corridor but unfortunately, their luck had run out. They came across a long corridor with another guard protecting the door at the end and there was no place for them to hide.

"Arg!" The pirate shouted as he spotted those who caused them trouble.

Not having time to come up with a plan of attack, Sandslash leaped into action. If the bee was allowed to poison those last two, then he is going to have fun. As the guard started running down towards them, reaching for a sword. Sandslash entered a Rollout and charged towards the pirate, he needs something to hit.

Jumping up as he was less than a meter away from the pirate, bringing his Rollout to an end. The guard swung the sword around in an attempt to kill the ground type but Sandslash had quick reactions. Powering up his Metal Claw, the two blades struck before Sandslash sliced through the sword with ease. Growling threateningly, if that's how this punk wants it, on his head be it. Latching onto the pirate's face, the Metal Claw powered down as Sandslash unleashed a savage barrage of Fury Swipes on to the pirate's face. Soon blood could be seen splatting out, which caused all three trainers to cringe at the sight. Ash would've tried to stop him but that would likely only make Sandslash angrier.

The guard was thrashing about mindlessly, crying out in pain as he attempted to shake, pull or knock the ground type off him. Quite honestly, the guard was sure this ground type was trying to kill him. After about half a minute, the guard fell over as he too lost consciousness. Seeing as the punk wouldn't feel any more pain even if he continued to attack, Sandslash climbed off and stared at the group with an icy stare. Followed by spitting something out of his mouth.

"Is that... His nose?" Drake asked, completely terrified of the ground type in front of him. Note to self, never swing a sword at Sandslash. Speaking off, the ground type looked at his trainer's brother with a look which says, ' _Make any comment and your nose will be next_ '.

Realising now is not a good time to stop and chat, both because Sandslash still looks he wants to hit something else, a least he only intended to hurt the guard which is evident because he didn't use the Metal Claw especially since it was active already and the leader is likely in that room again. Stepping forward to the plate, Pinsir used another Submission to break the second door down. With the rest of quickly following the bug inside.

Upon entering the new room, the gasped in horror. A smell of rotting meat filled the room, making everyone feel sick. Although that wasn't as bad as what they saw, several Lapras' shells we thrown into some sort of pile in a corner, there were three Lapras bodies hanging up like at some sort of butchers shop but two of them were missing their heads and dripping fresh blood into a smallish puddle underneath them, several barrels were nearby and looking in them showed they were filled with what was presumably Lapras meat but unlike the three hanging up, these have the meat ripped off the bodies, like its ready to be packaged for sale.

Although the worst is still to come. Turning around slightly showed a horrific sight. Another Lapras was lying on some sort of operating table with its shell removed and some sort of plastic bag over its head which would obviously be suffocating it. The Lapras also wasn't moving or making a sound.

"This is horrible." Serena stated gravely.

"We need to help her." Ash commanded as he ran over to the Lapras on the table, quickly pulling the bag off her head. Unfortunately, it appeared they were too late although Ash wasn't going to give up that easily. "Drake come and help. You know first aid.".

Drake walked over to the Lapras sadly and checked her pulse in her neck. "She has a weak pulse, but she is alive.".

"Well do something." Ash demanded.

"I can't, I know first aid for people, not Lapras." Drake answered honestly. "If I tried, I could make things worse.".

"Why did they take some of the Lapras' heads off?" Serena asked, although she wasn't too sure she wanted the answer.

"My guess, because they struggled." Drake answered honestly. "I think suffocating them is the preferred method as it doesn't damage the meat too much but if the Lapras' try to fight back then they...".

Drake didn't see a need to finish the statement. This whole thing is just sick. As Ash continued to look around, he could feel his aura building up once again. He tried once more to close his eyes and push the power away, but it wasn't going away so easily. Drake noticed this and was about to say something but...

"Ya scalawag is clever for a shrimp." The leader appeared from behind a dark corner behind Serena. The three Pokemon entered a battle stance ready to take this evil man down but he acted quickly and jumped behind Serena, holding a sword to her neck. "I wouldn't, unless you want her to end up those.".

Looking in the direction the leader gestured to showed he meant the Lapras' with the missing heads. With no other choice, they all stood back as the leader left through the entrance the group entered through. Drake noticed the aura had won the battle over his brother and smirked, he has a plan. With a secret weapon now in action, he bolted after the leader and Serena. After what happened at the Silph co back in Kanto, the poacher doesn't stand a chance.

Drake caught up to them on them on the deck. The water Pokemon were surrounding the boat to prevent him from escaping on one of the Tentacruel's assuming they still have one left. Leaf and Pidgeot were also circling around them, which suggests they are signalling to the cops where the ship is.

"Look, you've got no-where to go. You've lost." Drake called out to the leader. "I would let her go, if I was you.".

"My only bargaining tool?" The leader replied. "Why would I do that?".

"Because of what is coming. Have you ever heard of aura guardian's?" Drake answered as the pirate's reaction showed he hadn't. "Aura is the essence of all lives, and few people are given the ability to manipulate it. Guardians are those trained to full control it. My brother, who you saw down there is merely a user which means the aura is controlling him and acting of his will. It won't hold back or show mercy if he sees you threatening her.".

"Why would that be, Shrimp?" The leader asked.

"Because she is his girlfriend, and he is really peed off." Drake answered with a smirked.

The moment Drake finished his little speech, the corridor they just ran through exploded with aura. Out of the blue flames walked Ash without a single mark on him although both his eyes were clouded by aura. He looked at the leader who couldn't help but shrink under the gaze, it is almost un-human. Not giving him chance to move, Ash formed an aura ball in his hand and launched it at the leader's hand which is holding sword, with perfect accuracy.

The aura ball hit the hand and sent the sword flying before it landed in the water, where it sunk. This shocked the pirate, giving Serena the chance to escape where she ran over to Misty. Seeing as Serena is now safe, the aura no-long has to hold back.

Ash started walking up to the pirate in a threatening manner as the aura expanded behind him, getting bigger with each step. The pirate started backing away in fear but tripped up over his own feet as he couldn't look away from the creature in front of him. Ash stood over the man with an expressionless face. The aura cloud behind him had several tentacles shoot out and into the pirate's face, attacking the poachers, eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

As the aura directly attacked the man's mind, he began to thrash about on the floor, like a toddler having a tantrum. Screaming loudly, one might think the man was having every bone in his body broken in a slow and agonising way. It seemed the louder the man screamed and begged, the more aura seemed to pump through the tentacles which in turned made the torture for the pirate worse. Would this ever end? What was the aura even doing?

"Arg!" Ash shouted out as he grabbed his head. Although difficult to make out what was happening, what was happening was Ash fighting against his aura from the inside. He can clearly see what it is doing to the leader and feel it as well. Despite the man probably deserving it, it is just as evil in some regards and Ash doesn't want to be like that. Yes, the man should be punished for what he's done but there is a clear different between what is happening and justice.

What is happening? The aura is manipulating the man's mind. Attack all his major senses. In the simplest terms possible, it is using his memories of what he did to the Lapras but swapping the places around, so he believes he is in the position of the Lapras. Obviously, it isn't killing him as it is only making him thing this happened not actually doing it but going through an experience like this and surviving is enough to send a man mad.

Ash grabbed his head as the aura disappeared from around him, along with the tentacles which were attacking the poacher. Screaming out some more, showing clear signs of agonising pain. Ash began walked back as he mentally fought against his own aura. If someone didn't know any better, they might think that Ash had lost his mind with the wacky motions he was making. Although to be fair, by definition, he had technically lost his mind to the power of aura.

The Leader fell onto the floor, shivering like he had been stuck out in a blizzard. Curling up into a ball, it was he also started to slowly rock back and forth in a disturbed manner. With what was done, some might say he was punished with the 'eye for an eye' system.

"GO! AWAY!" Ash shouted as his four limbs stretched out.

A blue beam of aura shot out of his body before the glow he previously had fainted. Making a sort of grunting noise, he fell over as his body needed to recover. Despite being unconscious, Ash was able to win out over his aura. As his friends moved to check on him, a couple of police boats pulled up and boarded the remains of the ship. This would take a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

A bright light hit Ash's eyes as he stirred awake. Using his arm to block the light, he blinked himself awake before looking around at his surroundings. He appeared to be in some sort of hospital room and the light was the morning sun through the window. How long as he been out? Looking around some more, he sat up, grunting as his body was covered in achy-pains. It was clearly nothing serious as the pains felt quite weak, but they were still uncomfortable.

It didn't stop Ash from sitting up in his bed, only to look around a little more. He spotted Serena in one of the chairs, curled up with a blanket asleep, although she had started stirring awake. In the chair next to her was Pikachu and Togepi asleep, as couldn't but smile how Togepi has cuddled with his Uncle Pikachu, no-doubt the electric type will be embarrassed when he wakes up. Ash couldn't help but lightly chuckle to himself about the thought.

"Huh, Ash?" A familiar voice spoke in a groggy voice. Turning to the source showed Serena was awake, more or less.

"Yeah, its me." Ash chuckled lightly, as Serena arose from the chair and made her way over to him, greeting him with a hug.

"I am so glad your awake." Serena told her boyfriend. It's not surprising she was so worried considering he has been out for about eighteen hours, give or take.

"What happened?" Ash asked as he returned the hug. "Last thing I remember was entering that room, where we found the Lapras.".

"Well, your aura activated. And you saved me when that pirate took me hostage." Serena explained slowly. "Your aura seemed to attack his head, but it was difficult to make out what was happening.".

Ash's expression darkened as he remembered what happened. "My aura was attacking his memories. The ones of what he did to the Lapras. Manipulating them, it transformed them, so he thought that he was in the place of the Lapras. It wanted to send him mad.".

"Well it worked." Serena replied quietly. "He was declared criminally insane and unable to be held responsible on reasoning of insanity. Officer Jenny told us last night when she came for a check up on the female Lapras we found in the room. He was taken straight to mental asylum in another region.".

" _At least he won't be able to do those things again_." Ash thought to himself but remained silent as to not upset Serena any more. He decided to change the topic as he is curious about another topic. "What about the Lapras? How is she doing?".

"Nurse Joy was working on her last night before we left. Although I think she might be the mother to your Lapras." Serena explained. "With how your Lapras acted when she

"I need to find out how she's doing." Ash jumped out of bed. "If she is Lapras' mother than she deserves as much information as possible."

"Um, Ash?" Serena tried to get his attention.

Ash turned around to see his girlfriend was bright red. That was weird, while she had a habit to blush back before they got together. She hardly ever blushed now-a-days, so what was wrong? It didn't take Ash long to figure it out why Serena was blushing. Her blushing was because he was only in his boxers.

"I-I'll wait outside for you to change." Serena stuttered as she bolted out of the hospital room. The door slamming was enough to wake Pikachu and Togepi up. The fair type waddled over to his daddy and hugged his leg while Pikachu was snickering after guessing what happened between his trainer and Serena.

She leaned against the wall as she attempted to process what just happened. Of course, she has seen Ash in similar outfits when going swimming but each of those times had the water to blur out her view, so it was never a problem. Although she was surprised to see Ash was developing some sort of abs but considering all the travelling they do, along with him training with his Pokemon, it is only natural that he would start developing muscles which could be used to hold her...

" _Stop thinking about them, this isn't the time for that_!" Serena mentally screamed to herself. Now is not the time to be getting those sort thoughts, is it wrong for her to be thinking about Ash like that? He maybe her boyfriend but focusing on just this is making her feel indecent. Why does she want to see them again, anyway?

Soon Ash exited the room in his normal attire although there was an awkward tension between the two of them. Ash discharged himself from the hospital with taking some medication as a prescription before the two of them set off for the Pokemon centre.

* * *

Arriving at the Pokemon centre, the awkward tension had almost completely disappeared, mainly because of the seriousness of their current task. Upon entering the centre, Ash ran up to the desk where Nurse Joy was working. He failed to notice his other friends who seemed to be getting ready to leave to go and visit him in the hospital.

"Nurse Joy, the Lapras that was brought in here yesterday. How is she?" Ash asked in an urgent tone.

The nurse turned towards the boy who just ran up to her, normally she would scold such poor manners but considering the situation, she knew he probably didn't mean to sound rude and even then, this is not a time for such trivial things. With a tough decision to have with him, she looked at Ash sympathetically.

"I am so sorry, but she died on the operating table last night. We did all we could, but her health was too poor by the time she got here." Nurse Joy explained with a sad expression. No matter how many times it happens, death is never easy to deal with, even when not emotionally involved. "Was she your Pokemon?".

"No..." Ash replied in shock, he was so certain it would be good news. How wrong could he be? "But I think my Lapras was her daughter... We've been helping to try and reunite them... Um, do you have a pool or body of water where I can talk to my Lapras? I think she needs to know.".

"Of course." Nurse Joy replied.

She lead the raven-haired boy down to the swimming pool in the gym. Serena saw her upset boyfriend with confusion as she stood with her friends, Drake took the chance to explain what happened. On the way to the location, Nurse Joy explained to him how it was likely all the herd of Lapras were dead due to the evidence found on the boat by the police. Down in the swimming area, Nurse Joy ordered everyone out of the pool. The life guard wasn't happy at first but once he knew the situation, he complied. Soon it was only Ash in the pool with a Pokeball in his hand. Pikachu had taken Togepi away to give Lapras privacy.

"Come on out, Lapras." Ash called in a monotone voice. The transport Pokemon appeared in the pool before her eyes fell on Ash, where she looked at him expectantly. After seeing her mother yesterday, she has been anxious for seeing her again. "Hey Lapras, you know the Lapras you saw yesterday?".

"My mother." Lapras interjected, not catching onto Ash's sad undertone. "Can I see her? Please!".

"Yeah, Lapras. Well she was very ill which is why she was brought here where Nurse Joy worked very hard on her." Ash explained slowly to the young Pokemon. Part of him hopped she wasn't if only for Lapras' sake. "They all did everything they could for her.".

"... Ash?" Lapras questioned as she caught onto what Ash was saying, not wanting to believe it.

"I am so sorry, Lapras. There is no easy way to tell you this..." Ash chocked as tears finally escaped his eyes and rolled down his cheek. "... She, died on the operating table last night. She isn't with us anymore.".

For a moment, Lapras made no sound, no move. It was like she was frozen. Her mother, dead? That can't be right, can it? As the realisation dawned on her, Lapras burst into tears. She attempted to bury her head in Ash's stomach as he did his best to comfort her. This would be hard for anyone to take, let alone a young infant who has been searching for her family for literal months. Although, Ash still has more to tell her.

"I don't want to upset you more, Lapras, but you should know." Ash decided it was best to get all the bad news out together. "The police found evidence of about thirteen Lapras being on the ship. The typical size of a herd. It is presumed that one of them would be your father.".

It was hard to tell but Lapras seemed to cry even louder with this information. While some might think Ash shouldn't have told her while in distress, is it really any better for him to wait for her to accept her mother's death then drop a second bomb shell? Surely, it is best to get it all out in one go rather than drag it out.

Ash did the only thing he knew he had to, comfort the water ice type. She had just lost both her parents, the family she has been searching for since meeting Ash all that time ago. What has been an adventure of mostly fun, smiles and excitement, has ended in tragic loss and sadness. It may take a while, but Ash will be sure to help Lapras over this and to continue to grow as a Pokemon.

Lapras may have lost one family, but she will always be a part of Ash's. While it will be difficult, she will have all her new friends and family to help her. It may be painful right now but she will have help to over come this tradegy. One can only hope the next adventure to come will be lighter, as the journey continues...

* * *

 ** _Well, that is the end of the Orange Island arc. Let's start with the final chapter, Lapras is staying with Ash but at a cost. I wanted to keep Lapras on the team and I needed a realistic way for the parents to allow that since in the lore, Lapras aren't very trusting of people, death seemed like the best option since I also wanted to introduce the dark tone which will be sprinkled in the series from here on out. Also, I explored the reason behind Lapras not being trusting, due to them being hunted near to the point of extinction. I have also mentioned several hints at possible subplots to show up in Johto, if you missed them than you'll just need to wait and see._**

 ** _As for this arc as whole, it has just flown by. Of course, there have been a few issues come up like not meeting my original deadline because I lost a lot of my writing time thanks to a promotion at work and there were a couple chapters I would like to redo but overall, I feel like my writing has improved loads since Kanto, which is what I wanted from this arc. As for one thing I have decided, I will no longer answer guest questions in the author's notes as I don't see the need but I will answer all PM questions, sorry for any problems this might cause._**

 ** _I know I say this a lot, but I really mean it, thank you to each and every one of you. Every follow, favourite and review really does mean a lot and can really motivate me to start writing even on days when I wasn't planning on it. Like at the start of this arc, I will be starting Johto soon with no major gap between uploads. Maybe a couple of weeks at most, but no promises might be sooner, might be later. So, I hope to see you all when the new arc starts. See you there._**

 ** _Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time... Goodbye for now..._**


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